http://www.archive.org/details/churchofapostlesOOkipwrich 


X 


THE 


CHURCII  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


BY  THE 


RIGni  REV.  WM.  INGRAIIAM  KIP,  D.D.,  LLD., 


BISHOP  OP  CALIFORNIA. 


*'  Within  these  walls  each  fluttering  guest 
Is  gently  lured  to  one  safe  nest- 
Without,  'tis  moaniflftAfidunrest." 

O 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    &    COMPANY, 

549   &  551   BROADWAY. 

1877. 


COPYRIGHT   BY 
D.  APPLETON"  AND  COMPANY, 

1877. 


TO 

THE  RIGirr  KEV.  JOSEPH  P.  B.  WH^MER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

BISnOP  OP  LOUISIANA, 

THE   AUTHOR 

AFFECnONATELT   INSCRIBES   THIS   VOLUME, 

IN   REMEMDRANCE   OP 

THEIR  EARLY   STUDENT   DAYS. 


PRAYER  OF  THE  ORIENTAL  CHURCH. 

"  Grant,  my  Lord,  that  the  cars  wliich  have  heard  the  voice  of  Thy 
songs,  may  never  hear  the  words  of  clamor  and  dispute ;  that  the  eyes 
which  have  seen  Tiiy  great  love,  may  also  behold  Thy  blessed  hope ;  that 
the  tongues  which  have  sung  the  Sandus,  may  also  speak  the  truth  ;  that 
the  feet  which  have  walked  in  the  church,  may  tread  the  region  of  light ; 
that  the  bodies  which  have  tasted  Thy  living  Body,  may  be  restored  to 
newness  of  life." 


PEEFAOE. 


In  this  little  volume  the  writer  has  endeavored  to 
give  a  picture  of  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  the 
days  of  its  purity,  in  some  cases  following  it  down, 
until  its  brightness  was  dimmed  by  the  errors  and 
superstitions  of  Mediaeval  times.  Taking  the  brief 
description  of  St.  Luke,  he  has  attempted  to  fill  up 
the  outline,  so  as  to  enable  those  now  living  to  realize 
how  the  men  of  that  day  believed  and  acted.  The 
four  points  brought  forward,  he  thinks,  will  cover  much 
of  the  ground  necessary  for  ordinary  readers  to  know 
with  regard  to  the  Primitive  Church. 

Each  of  these  articles  might  have  been  expanded 
into  a  volume,  and,  indeed,  has  furnished  the  text  for 
many  learned  works  in  the  past ;  but  the  writer's  wish 
has  been  to  present  these  subjects  in  a  popular  shape, 
to  inform  those  who  have  neither  time  nor  taste  to 
enter  deeply  into  theological  discussions.  He  has  there- 
fore avoided  controversies — like  that  on  the  Eucharist — 
which  seemed  to  come  naturally  in  his  way,  and  which 


e  PREFACE. 


have  for  centuries  awakened  the  bitterness  of  polemical 
disputants.  His  object  has  been  to  make  these  articles 
more  historical  than  theological. 

In  discussing  the  Council  of  Nice,  he  has  acknowl- 
edged, in  several  places,  his  indebtedness  to  the  Ycry 
Rev.  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  West- 
minster. His  work  on  "The  Eastern  Church"  can 
have  no  rival  for  picturesque  effect,  as  the  author  had 
advantages  possessed  by  no  other  writer  on  this  sub- 
ject. He  had  himself  visited  these  scenes  of  Eastern 
Ecclesiastical  History,  and,  uniting  the  descriptions  of 
the  tourist  with  the  narrative  of  the  historian,  he  has 
been  enabled  to  impart  an  interest  to  his  pages  which 
nothing  else  could  have  given  them. 

The  writer  has,  however,  carefully  studied  the 
works  of  Eusebius,  Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  Theodoret, 
the  original  sources  of  the  history  of  that  Era  in  the 
Church ;  but  he  found  that  the  Dean  of  Westminster 
had  already  selected  every  salient  point  from  these  old 
chroniclers  to  weave  the  narrative  for  his  own  fascinat- 
ing pages.  When,  therefore,  the  writer  may  some- 
times seem  to  be  following  in  the  steps  of  Dr.  Stan- 
ley, and  drawing  his  facts  from  him,  he  is  in  reality 
quoting  from  the  original  authorities,  the  study  of 
which  was  common  to  them  both. 

The  materials  for  a  picture  of  the  Early  Church, 
even  slight  as  that  presented  by  the  following  pages. 


PREFACE. 


are  scattered  widely  throiigli  the  works  of  those  cen- 
turies. They  exist,  too,  in  most  varied  forms.  After 
leaving  the  sure  record  of  Inspiration,  which  closes  its 
history  of  the  Church  in  suffering  and  persecution,  we 
come  to  the  narratives  of  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  and 
the  other  historians  of  that  day  whom  we  have  men- 
tioned above.  Then,  in  some  cases,  facts  and  points  of 
doctrine  have  to  be  gleaned  from  sermons,  and  homi- 
lies, and  controversial  writings,  or  they  are  spread  be- 
fore us  in  the  glowing  eloquence  of  St.  Cyprian,  as  he 
sends  his  Epistles  from  the  Church  at  Carthage.  And 
so,  here  and  there,  we  gather  up  the  story  of  the  early 
faith,  until  the  review  of  this  era  ends,  perhaps,  in  St. 
Augustine's  "  City  of  God,"  as  he  calls  up  the  history 
of  the  past,  and  sends  forth  his  shout  of  triumph  over 
the  fall  of  the  "  Eternal  City  "  by  the  hands  of  the 
half-civilized  Goths.  When  the  crash  startled  the  na- 
tions in  terror,  their  ancient  reverence  for  Eome  as 
the  Mistress  of  the  world  prepared  them  to  unite  in 
her  solemn  requiem  ;  but  to  St.  Augustine  she  was 
only  the  "  Mystical  Babylon,"  and  the  fiery  African 
recorded  his  loud  gratulation  that  her  power  over  the 
Church  had  passed  away  forever. 

There  could  not,  indeed,  have  been  selected  a  sub- 
ject which  afforded  less  opportunity  for  originality  than 
an  attempt  to  portray  the  Church  of  the  early  centu- 
ries.    Since  first  the  Christian  Chm*ch  became  "  a  pres- 


PREFACE. 


ence  and  a  power  "  in  the  world,  conntless  writers,  for 
various  and  often  widely-different  objects,  have  been 
gleaning  the  field,  and  all  that  now  can  be  attempted 
by  any  one  is  to  select  the  facts,  and  so  arrange  them 
as  to  answer  whatever  purpose  he  may  have  in  view. 
The  explorer  of  the  present  day  is  "  last  of  all,  as  one 
that  gathereth  after  the  grape-gatherers."  * 

As  the  drama  of  this  world  is  drawing  to  its  close, 
while  the  coming  of  our  Lord  seems  to  be  delayed,  the 
scoffing  spirit  of  the  times  is  heard  with  greater  bold- 
ness questioning  the  solemn  verities  of  our  faith.  But, 
at  the  same  time,  the  earnest  and  inquiring  are  asking 
with  deeper  interest.  Where  is  that  Church  which  was 
constituted  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth  ? "  It 
is  to  answer  this  question  that  this  volume  is  partly 
intended,  that  men  may  see  for  themselves  how  our 
Lord  and  Ilis  apostles  originally  organized  His  Church, 
and  then,  as  they  look  on  the  conflicts  which  are  wast- 
ing the  strength  of  so  many  who  "profess  and  call 
themselves  Christians,"  they  may  recognize  in  the  One 
Apostolic  Church,  in  its  different  branches,  the  linea- 
ments of  that  likeness  which  has  come  down  to  us,  still 
existing  through  all  the  intervening  centuries. 

The  writer  has  endeavored  not  to  make  a  mere  de- 
tail of  history,  but  to  point  out  the  practical  lessons 
taught  by  these  events.    As  his  readers  follow  the  nar- 

*  Ecclus.  xxxiil  16. 


PREFACE. 


rative  of  the  progress  of  the  faith  "  through  the  ages  all 
along,"  he  would  have  them  imbibe  something  of  the 
spirit  of  those  who  then,  even  at  the  cost  of  life,  gave 
form  and  impress  to  the  Church,  and  endeavor,  in  this 
waning  period  of  the  world — "  this  setting  part  of 
Time  " — to  revive  in  their  own  hearts  the  lofty  devo- 
tion of  those  who,  in  far  by-gone  centuries,  first  chant- 
ed the  anthems  and  uttered  the  prayers  which  are  now 
our  precious  inheritance. 
San  Francisco,  May^  1877. 


Creeds 

Fellowsuip 

Eucharist 

Liturgies 

Conclusion 


CONTENTS. 


13 

Gl 

91 

113 

169 


I. 

CREEDS 


"  Who  goeth  in  the  way  that  Christ  hatli  gone, 
Is  much  more  sure  to  meet  with  Uim,  than  one 
That  traveleth  by-ways." 

George  IIerbeut. 


xversity; 


CEEEDS. 

It  was  a  declaration  of  one  of  tlie  patriarchs  of  the 
olden  time  :  "  Inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age 
and  prepare  thyself  to  the  search  of  their  fathers  (for 
we  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  know  nothing,  because  our 
days  on  earth  are  a  shadow).  Shall  not  they  teach  thee 
and  tell  thee  and  utter  words  out  of  their  heart  ?  "  ^ 

And  in  this  sentence  he  reveals  but  a  natural  im- 
pulse of  the  human  mind.  We  are  tempted  ever  to 
turn  from  the  harshness  of  present  realities  to  the  dis- 
tant past.  "We  indulge  in  fond  regrets  for  all  that  time 
has  swept  away,  and  gaze  with  longing  eyes  upon  the 
landscape  which  lies  far  behind  us,  because  it  is  clothed 
in  a  mellow  light  and  rests  there  in  dimness  and  si- 
lence. The  tones  of  the  living  fall  upon  our  ears  with 
a  harsh  reality,  and  we  look  back  with  regret  to  the 
dead  of  ages  past  as  their  voices  float  gently  "  down 
through  the  corridors  of  time,"  and  swell  about  us 
with  solemn  melody.  We  believe  that  theirs  was  the 
happy  age  which  was  freed  from  the  evils  of  this  pres- 
ent time. 

The  feeling,  therefore,  is  a  natural  one,  and  seems 
deeply  implanted  in  the  mind  of  man.     It  is  founded 

'  Job  viii.  8. 


16  TUB  CUURGH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


on  the  belief  that  the  early  history  of  the  human  family 
was  one  of  peace  and  purity,  while,  as  time  advanced, 
each  passing  century  caused  the  shadows  to  darken 
more  deeply  over  the  pathway  of  our  race  and  the  glory 
which  had  rested  on  its  birth — 

"  ....  to  die  away, 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 

The  classic  poets  love,  therefore,  to  dwell  on  the 
Golden  Age,  which  they  represent  as  gradually  changing 
till  it  became  the  Iron  Age  in  which  they  lived.  There 
is,  too,  a  strange  universality  about  this  tradition.  We 
recognize  its  existence  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
East.  They  all  look  back  to  some  Elysium  in  the  past, 
the  reality  of  which  is  gone,  and  the  remembrance  only 
survives  in  the  legends  they  have  inherited.  They 
turn  instinctively  to  the  birthplace  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  Arab  now,  as  he  sits  beneath  his  tent,  narrates 
to  his  children  wild  and  romantic  stories  of  the  early 
Eden.  Even  now,  he  declares,  there  is  a  guardian 
sanctity  resting  on  it ;  that  there  the  wild  beast  may 
not  wander,  or  the  wild  bird  pause  in  its  flight;  but 
the  eye  of  God  rests  U2)on  it,  and  the  holiness  of  its 
early  day  still  guards  its  hallowed  precincts. 

The  Church  has  also  its  Golden  Age  to  which  it  looks 
back.  It  is  an  age  of  primitive  purity,  when  the  Apos- 
tles had  jast  received  the  commission  from  their  Lord, 
and  were  going  forth  to  "  inherit  the  earth."  Small, 
indeed,  was  the  band  to  which  this  mighty  work  was 
committed,  and  a  single  "  upper  room "  was  able  to 
contain  all  who  in  the  Holy  City  had  professed  the  faith 
of  the  despised  Kazarene.     And  against  them  were  ar- 


CREEDS,  17 


rayed  the  sacred  learning  of  Judea,  as  tanglit  by  its 
ancient  priesthood  ;  the  brilliant  philosophy  of  Athens, 
where  men  had  bowed  to  the  glorious  dreams  of  Plato 
and  the  intellectual  teaching  of  Aristotle;  and  that 
wide-spread  Oriental  system,  which  could  scarcely  count 
its  proselytes,  as  its  influence  stretched  from  the  shrines 
of  Memphis  and  Heliopolis,  far  Eastward  over  the  plains 
of  Asia,  till  it  reached  the  caverned  temples  of  India. 

Yet  the  faithful  were  all  of  one  heart  and  one  voice, 
and  therefore  the  infant  Church  went  forth  learlessly 
to  proclaim  its  authority  over  the  systems  of  this  world. 
And  so  it  was  that  it  triumphed,  bowing  down  every 
false  creed  before  it,  infusing  a  new  life  into  the  wasted 
forms  of  Eastern  thought,  and  spreading  a  lofty  tone 
through  all  the  literature  of  the  world,  whether  its 
utterance  was  heard  in  the  Christianized  Platonism  of 
Alexandria,  or  it  spoke  out  in  the  fantastic  musings  of 
the  Fathers  of  the  Desert. 

"  It  was  a  religion  of  visible  self-denial  and  holiness, 
that  willingly  took  on  itself  the  sorrows  which  to  the 
multitude  were  inevitable,  and  lightened  their  sufferings 
by  its  own  pain  and  privation.  It  was  not,  then,  that  um- 
bratile  thing,  that  feeble  exotic,  shut  up  in  churches,  par- 
sonages, and  parlors  ;  but  walked  abroad,  made  the  mul- 
titude both  the  receivers,  the  collectors,  and  distribu- 
tors of  her  bounties ;  compelled  cities  to  wear  her  livery, 
and  dared  to  inherit  the  earth.  She  then  provided 
homes  and  forms  of  operation  for  the  heroic  virtues, 
for  lofty  aims  and  firm  resolves;  making  their  torrents 
flow  in  the  manifold  channels  of  mercy,  instead  of  suf- 
fering them  to  waste  the  land  with  a  baleful  magnifi- 
cence.  She  then  gave  names,  and  methods,  and  ancient 


18  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

sanctions,  and  solemn  order,  and  venerable  holiness, 
and  every  quality  men  love  and  obey,  to  the  pious  bear- 
ers of  spiritual  and  temporal  aid  to  the  ignorant  and 
poor,  as  even  the  many  sacred  titles,  which  in  the  Old 
World  the  streets,  and  gates,  and  bridges,  are  still  suf- 
fered to  bear,  do  testify.  She  then  did  so  combine  and 
temper  these  works  of  benevolence  with  other  holy  em_ 
ployments,  with  frequent  daily  prayer  and  oft-heard 
choral  praise,  that  the  social  acts  of  temporal  and  ghost- 
ly relief  seemed  no  separate  and  adventitious  work,  no 
petty  craft  of  artificial  goodness,  but  rather  flowing 
from  a  something  holy,  natural,  and  complete  in  all  its 
parts.  She  then  had  officers  and  employments  for  all ; 
that  all,  however  humble  in  rank,  or  wealth,  or  mental 
culture,  might  be  personally  interested  in  the  Church's 
work.  She  then  could  claim  her  o\vn  from  every  rank, 
teach  all  her  holy  character,  make  all  acknowledge  her 
claims  to  sacredness  and  authority."  * 

Such  is  the  picture  of  the  ancient  Church ;  and  in 
this  day,  when  its  glory  seems  to  have  faded,  and  its 
majesty  to  be  blighted  by  the  atmosphere  of  this  work- 
ing world — when- we  look  about  us  in  vain  for  the  hero- 
ism and  the  earnest  convictions  which  charactenzed 
those  distant  days,  when  the  seamless  garment  of  Christ 
is  rent  asunder,  and  they  who  bear  the  Christian  name 
have  turned  their  weapons  against  each  other — should 
we  wish  to  call  up  this  vision  of  beauty  and  to  array 
before  us  a  tnie  representation  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  we  are  obliged  to  look  back  through  the  clouds 
and  mistiness  of  centuries  that  are  gone. 

In  endeavoring,  then,  to  lead  our  readers  to  survey 

*  British  Critic,  No.  Ivi.,  p.  370. 


CREEDS.  19 


the  Cliurcli  in  the  peace  and  purity  of  its  early  day,  we 
would  turn  to  the  very  fountain-head — to  the  descrip- 
tion which  the  inspired  writer  has  left  of  the  fold  of 
Christ,  as  it  appeared  before  it  had  lost  the  fervor  of 
its  first  love,  or  its  early  zeal  had  faded  away.  He 
sums  up  all  in  a  single  sentence,  "  And  they  continued 
steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and 
in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers."  *  Let  us  look,  then, 
at  these  different  points,  as  each  develops  the  Church 
in  a  new  phase.  Let  us  unroll  the  records  of  the  past, 
and,  taking  the  history  of  the  Church  as  pictured  by  the 
Ecclesiastical  writers  of  that  day,  we  shall  see  how  well 
in  each  particular  it  merited  the  commendation  of  St. 
Luke.     The  first  point,  then,  brought  before  us  is,  the 

STEADFASTNESS  OF  THE  ChUKCH  IN  THE  ApOSTLES'  DOC- 
TRINE. 

What  was  that  doctrine,  and  where  are  we  to  look 
for  it  ?  At  first  the  Church  needed  no  formal  profes- 
sion of  its  faith,  as  was  afterward  embodied  in  its 
Creeds.  It  was  too  early  for  the  memory  of  its  Lord's 
teaching  to  be  lost,  while  His  blood  still  crimsoned  the 
heights  of  Calvary,  and  the  earth  was  yet  fragrant  with 
His  footsteps.  The  first  teachers,  too,  were  men  of 
simple  hearts  and  no  worldly  learning ;  and  it  was  re- 
served for  another  age,  when  philosophy  had  begun  its 
endeavors  to  warp  the  faith  to  agreement  with  its  own 
lessons,  to  witness  the  perversion  of  those  primary 
truths  on  which  the  first  generation  rested  its  hopes. 
Few  and  simple,  we  believe,  were  at  that  time  the  tests 
of  faith,  for  error  had  not  yet  crept  into  the  fold. 
When  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  applied   for  baptism  to 

*  Acts  ii.  42. 


20  THE  GEURCn  OF  TEE  APOSTLES. 

Philip  the  deacon,  his  answer  was,  "  If  thou  believest 
with  all  thj  heart,  thou  mayest."  And  when  the  eu- 
nuch had  declared,  "  I  beheve  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the 
Son  of  God,"  he  was  admitted  by  that  rite  into  the 
Christian  Church.  This  simple  profession  of  faith  in 
the  Divinity  and  Messiahship  of  our  Lord  included  ev- 
erything which  in  that  day  was  necessary.  There  is, 
therefore,  in  this  point  of  view,  a  philosophical  truth 
in  that  sentence  of  J^ewman's,  "  Freedom  from  symbols 
and  articles  is  abstractly  the  highest  state  of  Christian 
communion."  * 

But  soon  there  was  evidence  of  the  necessity  for  a 
more  formal  declaration  of  the  Christian  faith,  as  the 
restless  intellect  of  man  began  to  frame  doctrines  not 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Apostles.  The 
first  inspired  teachers  left  behind  them  no  complete 
system  of  Christian  doctrine.  The  Epistles  we  now 
have  were  addressed  to  persons  already  instructed,  al- 
ready put  in  charge  of  the  sacred  deposit  of  Christian 
truth,  before  they  received  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism. 
"  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  they  were  so  directed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  writing  these  apparently  casual  and  un- 
connected pieces,  that  no  portion  of  the  mass  of  divine- 
ly-revealed truth  should  lack  written  proof  in  confirma- 
tion from  some  part  or  other  of  their  writings ;  but 
that  truth  is  nowhere  exhibited  entire,  nowhere  system- 
atically or  theologically  stated,  as  in  a  Creed  or  a  Cate- 
chism, nowhere  so  stated  as  it  was  used  for  purposes  of 
instruction  or  profession." ' 

But  scarcely  had  these  early  laborers  entered  into  their 

*  Newman's  "  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Ccutury." 
«  Mobcrly's  "Forty  Days,"  p.  '?8. 


CREEDS.  21 


rest,  and  the  Cliurcli  thus  been  deprived  of  the  power 
of  reference  to  men  who  had  seen  their  Lord  in  the 
flesh,  when  those  who  survived  them  felt  the  need  of 
something  more.  As  the  Church,  too,  extended  into 
lieathen  lands,  it  became  of  essential  importance  that 
the  leading  points  of  Christian  doctrine  they  were  to 
receive  should  be  placed  before  them  compressed  into 
a  small  compass.^  Experience  soon  demonstrated  how 
useless  it  was  to  bring  before  the  minds  of  the  uncul- 
tivated and  the  barbarous  vague  or  indefinite  views  of 
the  faith.  It  was  a  necessity,  therefore,  in  dealing  with 
the  heathen  tribes  with  whom  they  were  soon  brought 
into  contact,  that  the  great,  verities  of  Christianity  should 
be  inculcated  in  brief  and  emphatic  propositions,  which 
the  mind  could  grasp  and  the  memory  retain.  The 
teachers  of  the  faith  began,  therefore,  to  state  the  great 
outb'nes  of  the  Apostles'  teaching — the  doctrines  they 
had  received  from  them — and  these  they  required  to 
be  professed  by  all  who  came  forward  to  baptism. 

Thus  arose  what  is  called  the  Apostles'  Creed — that 
form  which  now,  at  the  distance  of  eighteen  centuries 
from  its  origin,  is  repeated  each  time  we  assemble  for 
the  worship  of  God.  Though  probably  not  composed 
by  the  Apostles  themselves,  yet  it  was  acknowledged 
in  the  Church  throughout  the  world  to  contain  a  general 
summary  of  all  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  they 
taught. 

We  cannot  but  mark  its  perfect  simplicity — how  it 
deals  witli  nothing  but  the  primaiy  doctrines  of  our 
faith.  This  characteristic  alone  would  be  sufficient  to 
show  the  age  in  which  it  had  its  origin.     According  to 

'  Milman's  "History  of  Christianity,"  ii.,  115. 


22  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

tlie  summary  of  it  given  in  the  Church  Catechism,  it 
teaches  the  great  facts  of  "  God  the  Father,  who  hath 
made  us  and  all  the  world  ;  God  the  Son,  who  hath  re- 
deemed us  and  all  mankind ;  God  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  sanctifieth  us  and  all  the  people  of  God."  It  is 
evidently  not  intended — like  the  later  Creeds — to  guard 
against  any  particular  errors.  It  is  therefore  the  most 
ancient  and  the  simplest  expansion  of  the  doctrines  of 
our  Lord  as  they  were  handed  down  in  the  profession 
made  at  baptism.  "  Just  outside  of  the  Canon  of  actual 
Scripture,  and  not  claiming  a  literal  inspiration  like  that 
of  actual  Scripture,  it  is  nevertheless  the  earliest  his- 
torical record  of  the  systematic  doctrine  of  the  Apos- 
tles."* 

But,  were  all  other  proofs  of  the  antiquity  of  this 
Creed  wanting,  we  should  draw  'the  inference  that  it  had 
existed  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  from  the  fact  that 
we  so  often  meet  with  its  expressions  incorporated  in 
the  writings  of  that  period.  It  tinged  the  religious 
firmament,  and,  in  treating  of  the  faith,  its  early  de- 
fenders seemed  insensibly  to  adopt  the  phraseology 
of  the  Creed  as  expressions  with  which  they  were  fa- 
miliar. 

When  St.  Paul  is  charging  St.  Timothy  to  "  hold 
fast  the  form  of  sound  loords  which  he  had  heard,"  he 
must  have  been  alluding  to  some  well-known  formulary 
of  doctrine  which  had  been  delivered  to  them.  And 
what  more  probable  than  that  it  should  have  been  this 
earliest  Creed,  which  must  have  been  widely  spread 
even  at  that  day  ?    And  so,  in  writing  to  the  Corinth- 

'  Mobcrly's  "  Forty  Days,"  p.  79.  See  King's  "  History  of  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed,"  and  Bingham's  "  Orig.  Eccles.,"  b.  xi.,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  8. 


CREEDS.  23 


ians,  in  enforcing  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  he 
seems  to  be  quoting  from  the  Creed  which  he  had  pre- 
viously taught  them.  "  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of 
all  that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  that  he  was 
buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day,  according 
to  the  Scriptures." ' 

And,  if  we  pass  beyond  the  Canon  of  Holy  Script- 
ures to  the  writings  of  men  in  the  next  generation,  we 
find  the  most  evident  use  of  the  language  of  the  Creed. 
So  it  was  with  St.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  who 
was  a  disciple  of  St.  John.  In  writing  to  the  Trallians, 
at  the  close  of  tlie  first  century,  he  says :  "  Turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  any  man  who  departs,  in  what  he  says,  from 
Jesus  Christ,  who  was  of  the  seed  of  David  and  born 
of  Mary  ;  who  truly  was  born,  did  eat,  and  did  drink  ; 
truly  was  persecuted  under  Pontius  Pilate ;  truly  was 
crucified  and  died,  being  seen  of  them  that  are  in 
Heaven,  of  them  that  are  on  earth,  and  of  them  that 
are  under  the  earth ;  who  truly  also  was  raised  from 
the  dead,  His  Father  raising  Him ;  in  the  likeness 
whereto  w^e  also  who  believe  in  Him  shall  His  Father 
raise  up  through  Jesus  Christ,  without  whom  we  have 
no  real  life." ' 

So,  again,  Justin  Martyr,  in  the  year  140,  in  his 
''  Apology  for  Christianity,"  in  describing  the  rite  of 
Baptism,  uses  this  language  :  "  We  lead  them  to  a  place 
where  there  is  water,  and  there  they  are  regenerated  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  also  were ;  for  they  are  then 
washed  in  that  water  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father 
and  Lord  of  the  universe,  and  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus 

'  1  Cor.  XV.  3.  2  "  Records  of  the  Clmrcli  "  (Oxford),  No.  V. 


24:  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  He  who  is  so  ilhi- 
minated  is  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate ;  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who,  by  the  prophets,  foretold  all 
things  concerning  Jesus."  * 

The  fullest  adoption,  however,  of  the  words  of  the 
Creed,  is  that  sho\\Ti  by  Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  in 
France,  who  died  in  the  year  202.  In  the  formulary 
which  he  set  forth,  he  says :  "  The  Church,  although 
extended  through  the  whole  world,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  earth,  has  received  from  the  Apostles  and  their 
disciples  the  belief  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty, 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  seas,  and  all  that  is  in 
them ;  and  in  one  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  who 
was  made  flesh  for  our  salvation  ;  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who,  by  the  prophets,  proclaimed  the  merciful 
dispensation,  and  the  coming,  and  the  birth  from  a  Vir- 
gin, and  the  Passion,  and  the  Resun-ection,  and  the 
Ascension  into  heaven,  in  our  flesh,  of  the  beloved 
Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord,  and  His  appearing  from  heaven 
in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  to  gather  together  all  things 
in  one,  and  to  raise  from  the  dead  all  flesh  of  human 
kind ;  that  to  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord  and  God  and 
Saviour,  and  King,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
the  Invisible  Father,  every  knee  may  bow,  of  things  in 
Heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  imder  the  earth, 
and  every  tongue  may  confess  Him,  and  that  He  may 
recompense  just  judgment  upon  all,  sending  into  ev- 
erlasting fire  wicked  spirits  and  angels  that  trans- 
gressed and  became  apostates,  and  irreligious,  unjast, 
lawless,  and  profane  men,  but  upon  the  just  and  holy, 

V  Justin  Martyr's  "  Second  Apology." 


CREEDS.  25 


who  have  kept  His  commandments  and  persevere  in 
His  love,  whether  serving  Him  from  the  first  or  turn- 
ing by  repentance,  may  bestow  immortality  by  the  free 
gift  of  life,  and  secure  for  them  everlasting  glory."  ^ 

These  are  the  words  of  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  who 
had  known  the  Apostle  John.  But,  one  remove  from 
the  Apostles,  he  bears  his  witness  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
such  as  the  Church  holds  to  this  day. 


Three  centuries  rolled  by,  during  which  the  Chris- 
tian Church  had  no  need  of  any  other  profession  of  its 
doctrines.  And  we  see  the  reason  why  Creeds  and  Con- 
fessions of  faith  during  that  period  were  short  and  sim- 
ple. "  While  there  were  no  heretics,  there  was  no  need 
to  guard  against  heresy.  Antidotes  are  only  given  to 
persons  who  have  taken  poison,  or  who  are  likely  to 
take  it.  Neither  do  we  use  precautions  against  con- 
tagion when  no  disease  is  to  be  caught.  The  case,  how- 
ever, is  altered  when  the  air  has  become  infected  and 
thousands  are  dying  all  around  us.  It  is  then  necessary 
to  call  in  the  physician,  and  guard  against  danger.  The 
case  was  the  same  with  the  Church  when  she  saw  her 
children  in  peril  from  new  and  erroneous  doctrines. 
When  a  member  wished  to  be  admitted,  it  was  her 
duty  to  examine  whether  he  was  infected  or  not.  The 
former  tests  were  no  longer  sufficient.  Words  and 
phrases  which  had  hitherto  borne  but  one  meaning 
were  now  found  to  admit  of  several ;  and  the  Bishops 
and  clergy  were  too  honest  to  allow  a  man  to  say  one 
thing  with  his  tongue  while  in  his  heart  he  meant  an- 

•  "  Records  of  the  Church  "  (Oxford),  No.  XIV. 
2 


26  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

other.  It  was  thus  that  Creeds  became  lengthened  and 
clauses  were  added  to  meet  the  presumptuous  specu- 
lations of  human  reason.  But  the  fault  was  with  the 
heretics,  not  with  the  Church.  Her  great  object  from 
the  beginning  had  been  unity."  * 

There  was  something,  too,  in  the  changing  character 
of  the  age  which  produced  this  result.  It  had  been  an 
era  of  self-denial,  and  devotion,  and  active  labor,  when 
the  great  truths  which  it  taught  were  regarded  as  themes 
for  adoration,  not  for  dispute.  At  length,  when  the 
hand  of  persecution  was  withdrawn,  men  tm*ned  to  the 
deeper  and  more  abstruse  doctrines  of  our  faith,  and 
made  them  the  points  of  irreverent  inquiry.  The  East 
was  always  the  fatal  and  prolific  soil  of  speculative  con- 
troversy, and,  on  this  occasion,  the  question  of  the  Trin- 
ity was  the  one  destined  to  give  birth  to  the  element  of 
disunion  in  the  Christian  world. 

It  was. caused  by  the  rashness  of  Alexander,  Bishop 
of  Alexandria,  who,  preaching  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Mark,  in  the  presence  of  the  Presbytery  and  the  rest  of 
his  clergy,  attempted  to  explain,  with  perhaps  too  philo- 
sophical minuteness,  that  great  theological  mystery.' 
Arius,  one  of  his  priests,  thinking  that  the  Bishop  was 
verging  into  the  Sabellian  heresy,  opposed  him  with 
great  logical  acumen,  while,  in  doing  so,  he  ran  into 
the  opposite  extreme.  He  had  been  the  competitor  of 
the  Bishop  for  the  Episcopate,  and  failed  by  a  very  few 
votes.  The  tradition  is,  that  on  the  Sunday  after  this 
discussion  Arius  was  appointed  to  preach  in  St.  Mark's, 
while  the  Bishop  officiated  in  the  Baucalis.    The  Bishop, 

*  Burton's  "  History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  p.  428. 
'  Socrates's  "  Ecclesiastical  History,"  b.  i.,  chap.  v. 


CREEDS.  27 


in  his  sermon,  nuade  no  reference  to  the  controversy, 
while  Arius  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  give 
a  full  exposition  of  his  views.  The  consequence  was  a 
tumult,  some  of  the  congregation  crying  out,  "  This  is 
not  the  faith  we  have  received  from  our  fathers;" 
others,  "  Out  with  the  second  Cerinthus ! "  "  Anathema 
to  the  new  Basileides  !  "     This  commenced  the  contest. 

The  view  of  Arius  was,  that  ^'  there  was  a  time,  be- 
fore the  commencement  of  the  ages,  when  the  parent 
Deity  dwelt  alone  in  undeveloped,  undivided  unity.  At 
this  time,  immeasurably,  incalculably,  inconceivably  re- 
mote, the  majestic  solitude  ceased,  the  Divine  Unity  was 
broken  by  an  act  of  the  Sovereign  Will,  and  the  Only- 
Begotten  Son,  the  Image  of  the  Father,  the  Vicegerent 
of  all  the  Divine  Power,  the  intermediate  Agent  in  all 
the  long-subsequent  work  of  creation,  hegan  to  le^  ' 
The  Arian  doctrine  was  summed  up  in  the  single  sen- 
tence, "  There  was,  when  He  was  not."  " 

At  this  day,  it  seems  to  us  like  the  highest  irrever- 
ence thus  to  dissect,  as  it  were,  the  nature  of  the  Su- 
preme Being,  or  to  endeavor  to  deprive  it  of  that  vague- 
ness which,  to  the  ordinary  mind,  constitutes  its  sub- 
limity. The  dispute,  indeed,  owed 'its  existence  to  that 
exquisite  subtil ty  of  the  Greek  language  which  enabled 
them  to  draw  distinctions  which  in  other  tongues  could 
not  be  expressed  ;  and  while  for  three  centuries  they 
had  bowed  with  awe  before  this  great  truth,  looking  on 
it  only  as  a  fact  to  be  received  with  the  most  profound 
reverence,  it  was  now  to  be  subjected  to  what  a  writer 
calls  "  the  anatomical  precision  of  philosophic  Greek." 

»  "  Milman's  History,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  68. 

"  Theodoret  gives  Anus's  letter  in  full,  lib.  i.,  chap.  v. 


28  TEE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

It  is  strange  that  this  metaphysical  question,  so  en- 
tirely abstract,  which  had  no  relation  to  anything  which 
concerned  man's  spiritual  interests,  but  referred  only  to 
"  the  ineffable  relations  of  the  Godhead  before  the  re- 
motest beginning  of  time,"  should  have  awakened  an 
excitement  -svhich  stirred  up  the  most  violent  passions 
to  their  highest  exercise.  "  Beginning  in  the  Schools  of 
Alexandria,  the  dispute,"  says  Socrates,  "  ran  through- 
out all  Egypt,  Libya,  and  the  Upper  Thebes,  and  at 
length  diffused  itself  over  the  rest  of  the  provinces  and 
cities."  ^  It  became  the  absorbing  topic  of  the  day,  en- 
listing all  classes  of  the  people.'  It  excited  popular  tu- 
mults, leading  to  conflicts  in  the  streets  and  in  the  am- 
phitheatre, which  it  required  the  utmost  exertions  of  the 
military  authorities  to  quell.  The  subject  was  parodied 
in  the  theatres  by  the  pagans,  who  rejoiced  to  exhibit 
the  manner  in  which  the  Christians  '^  loved  one  an- 
other." Verses  composed  by  Arius,  and  setting  forth 
the  disputed  doctrine,  were  sung  by  all  classes  through 
the  whole  East.  Perhaps  nothing  so  much  shocked 
every  feeling  of  reverence  in  the  orthodox  mind  as 
these  doggerel  pieces  which  were  called  "  Thalia."  The 
most  sacred  mysteries  of  our  faith  were  ridiculed  in 
language  which  had  previously  been  used  in  the  lowest 
ballads,  and  appropriated  to  subjects  of  disgraceful  im- 

'  Socrates's  "  History,"  chap.  vi. 

"  *'  You  know  what  a  hair-splitting,  logicizing,  philosophical  set  the 
citizens  are — how  they  hold  a  logomachy  dearer  than  anything  else  ;  and 
the  seed  sown  by  Arius  was  now  bearing  most  deadly  fruit.  Merchants, 
lawyers,  oflBcers,  seemed  as  much  interested  in  the  question  as  divines, 
and  the  shops  of  Alexandria  were  full  of  debate  on  the  deepest  mysteries 
of  religion.  Business  seemed  in  abeyance  ;  polemical  reasoning  took  its 
place."— ("  The  Quay  of  the  Dioscuri,"  p.  19.) 


CREEDS.  20 


parity.  We  give  a  modern  version  of  some  of  the  most 
innocent  of  these  stanzas,  that  our  readers  may  judge  of 
their  character : 

"A  greater  set  of  nonsense 

Was  surely  never  heard  ; 
Incredible  and  silly, 

Preposterous,  absurd! 
Such  stuff  as  is  rejected 

By  very  boys  at  school ; 
Such  mysteries  as  can  only 

Be  handled  by  a  fool. 

"  Be  men,  be  men,  Egyptians ! 

Or,  rather  than  such  lore, 
Turn  back  again  to  Apis 

And  Isis  as  of  yore. 
They  never,  in  the  old  times. 

That  saw  King  Pharaoli's  court, 
Bowed  down  before  the  folly 

That  Catholics  support." 

At  the  close  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  the  book  was 
burned  by  authority,  and  became  so  rare  that  Sozomen 
had  never  seen  it,  though  he  had  heard  of  it.' 

The  dispute  seems,  indeed,  to  have  excited  a  perfect 
popular  furor.  As  an  historian  of  the  fourth  century 
describes  the  excitement  in  Constantinople,  so  was  it 
through  every  city  of  the  East :  "  Every  corner,  every 
alley  of  the  city  was  full  of  these  discussions — the 
streets,  the  market-places,  the  drapers,  the  money- 
changers, the  victualers.  Ask  a  man,  '  How  many 
oboli  ? '  he  answers  by  dogmatizing  on  generated  and 
ungenerated  being.  Inquire  the  price  of  bread,  and 
you  are  told,  '  The  Son  is  subordinate  to  the  Father.' 

'  Sozomcn's  "  History,"  i.,  22. 


30  THE  CHURCn  OF  TEE  APOSTLES. 

Ask  if  the  bath  is  ready,  and  you  are  told,  '  The  Son 
arose  out  of  nothing.'  "  * 

We  might,  perhaps,  expect  some  excitement  among 
the  versatile,  imaginative  children  of  the  East,  hut  the 
strangest  feature  in  the  history  of  this  doctrine  was  its 
spread  through  the  distant  "West,  among  those  whose 
more  practical  character  of  thought  would  have  saved 
them,  we  should  suppose,  from  such  fine-drawn  the- 
ories. This  difference  in  the  mental  constitution  of 
the  East  and  the  West  had  been  noticed  as  far  back  as 
the  days  of  Aristotle,  who  speaks  of  the  contrast  be- 
tween "  the  savage  energy  and  freedom  of  Europe  and 
the  intellectual  repose  and  apathy  of  Asia."  '  The  Ori- 
entals were  the  successors  of  the  Greek  Sophists,  who 
in  the  Garden  and  the  Porch  once  disputed  on  tlie  re- 
fined theories  of  Plato,  and,  now  that  Philosophy  had 
given  place  to  the  doctrines  of  our  Faith,  they  subjected 
them  to  the  same  intellectual  crucible.  They  cared 
more  for  accuracy  in  the  minute  tenets  of  Christianity 
than  for  that  w^ide-spread  hold  upon  the  world  which 
was  the  object  of  the  Latin  Church.  There  was  a  sig- 
nificancy,  therefore,  in  the  title  assumed  by  the  Eastern 
Church,  "  Orthodox,"  while  the  West  prided  itself  upon 
the  title  of  "  Catholic." 

Egypt  and  Syria  were  always  the  liomes  of  that 
dreamy  repose  which  was  developed  into  the  monastic 
system  of  Oriental  Christendom,  and  which,  though 
transplanted  into  the  West,  found  its  most  congenial 
soil  in  the  caves  of  the  Nile,  or  on  the  mountain-ranges 
of  Lebanon.     The  bold  energy  and  commanding  action 

^  Grog.  Xyss,,  quoted  by  Stanley,  "Eastern  Giurcb,"  p.  l'J'5. 
*  Aristotle,  Pol.  vii,,  V. 


CREEDS.  3  J 


of  Ambrose  and  Hildebrand  seem  the  natm*al  results 
of  the  atmosphere  of  the  West,  but  in  the  Latin  Church 
we  look  in  vain  for  the  passionless  musings  of  the  her- 
mit Anthony  in  the  burning  desert  of  the  Thebiad,  or 
the  lonely  devotion  of  Simeon  Stylites  on  his  pillar. 

So,  too,  was  it  with  that  prolific  brood  of  heresies — 
Eutychianism,  Xestorianism,  and  Sabellianism — which 
for  centuries  convulsed  the  East,  and  in  their  ever- 
changing  forms  called  for  Council  after  Council  and 
Synod  after  Synod,  to  define  their  shadowy  divergence 
from  orthodoxy.  In  the  West  they  obtained  no  foot- 
ing, and  their  names  were  only  known  through  the 
writings  of  the  Greek  controversialists.  No  Western 
mind  could  have  originated  the  disputed  points  of  Ori- 
ental metaphysics — "  bubbles  forming  and  bursting  on 
every  wave  of  human  life."  Of  the  swarm  of  heretics 
who  flit  across  the  page  of  history,  almost  all  are  from 
tlie  East.  The  only  distinguished  name  which  comes 
to  us  from  the  West  is  that  of  Tertullian,  when  in  his 
Litter  days  he  became  a  Montanist. 

Arianism  was  the  only  strange  exception  to  this 
rule  of  national  character ;  it  spread  widely  through  the 
AVest,  and,  when  the  torrent  of  Gothic  invasion  poured 
down  upon  Italy,  the  Romans  found  to  their  surprise 
that  their  conquerors  were  not  only  nominal  Christians 
like  themselves,  but  had  adopted  also  the  heresy  of 
Arius.  "  These  rude  nations  fell  off  from  the  faith  of 
the  Church,  as  from  a  system  too  exalted  for  them,  into 
the  impieties  of  Arianism."  '  St.  Augustine,  in  his 
"  City  of  God,"  pays  his  tribute*  to  the  clemency  of 
Alaric  and  his  followers  in  sparing  the  Churches  dur- 

»  Bowden's  "  Life  of  G.'c-ory  VIL,"  vol.  i.,  p.  30. 


32  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ing  the  sack  of  Eome.  "  The  name  of  Christ  rose 
swelUng  above  the  wild  dissonance  of  the  captured 
city."  It  was,  however,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they 
shared  in  the  same  faith  with  the  conquered  Romans. 
But  Ulfilas,  the  Apostle  of  the  Goths,  who  first  trans- 
lated the  Scriptures  into  their  tongue,  was  an  Ariau, 
and  from  him  they  had  received  their  belief. 

So  was  it  with  Genseric,  the  conqueror  of  Africa. 
The  North  of  Africa  bowed  to  this  heresy,  and  even 
from  the  Churches  of  Carthage,  built  in  memory  of  St. 
Cyprian,  the  orthodox  were  expelled  by  the  Vandal 
King  Honoricus,  and  the  Arians  put  in  possession.  Nor 
were  they  recovered  until  nearly  a  century  had  passed, 
and  Belisarius  took  Carthage  and  drove  the  Vandals 
out  of  Africa.  The  fierce  Lombards,  too,  shared  in 
that  heresy,  as  did  Theodoric  the  Great,  King  of  Italy; 
and  it  is  not  saying  too  much  to  state  that  the  strongest 
hold  of  Arianism  was  in  Spain  and  Southern  France. 
At  one  time,  indeed,  the  greater  part  of  the  Western 
world  acknowledged  that  belief. 

But,  in  thus  narrating  the  triumphs  of  Arianism  in 
"Western  Europe  and  Northern  Africa,  we  have  antici- 
pated its  history  in  the  following  century.  We  return, 
therefore,  to  its  origin. 

The  anathemas  of  the  Church  at  once  expelled  Arius 
from  its  fold,  because,  in  the  language  of  that  docu- 
ment, "  he  had  dared  to  utter  his  blasphemies  against 
the  Divine  Redeemer."  But  his  doctrines,  as  we  have 
sho^vn,  lived  and  found  a  congenial  atmosphere  through 
the  East,  until  at  length  an  appeal  was  made  to  the 
Emperor  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  divided  Church. 
He  attempted  the  work,  but  his  envoy  to  Egypt,  Hosius 


CBEEDS.  33 


of  Cordova,  the  most  eminent  of  the  Spanish  Bishops, 
met  with  no  success,  though  he  bore  a  letter  from  the 
Emperor,  entreating  them  to  "cease  vain  contentions 
about  words,  and  to  return  to  the  harmony  which  be- 
came their  common  faith."  ^ 

But  Constantine  was  a  late  convert  from  Paganism, 
and  the  first  Christian  Emperor  found  himself  unable 
to  settle  the  disputes  of  the  fold  to  which  he  had  joined 
himself.  We  may  believe,  too,  from  his  own  expres- 
sions, that  it  was  with  bitter  disappointment  he  found 
the  Christian  Church  rent  asunder  by  what  to  him 
seemed  empty  controversies.  "  You,  Alexander,'-  he 
says  in  his  address  to  the  contending  parties,  "  mooting 
a  subject  improper  for  discussion ;  you,  Arius,  rashly 
giving  expression  to  a  view  of  the  matter,  such  as  ought 
either  never  to  have  been  conceived,  or  if,  indeed,  it  had 
been  suggested  to  your  mind,  it  became  you  to  bury  in 
silence."  And  then  he  makes  the  appeal  to  them  :  "  Re- 
turn again  to  a  state  of  reconciliation,  and  by  so  doing 
give  back  to  me  tranquil  days  and  nights  free  from 
care.  If  this  should  not  be  effected,  I  must  necessarily 
groan  and  be  wholly  suffused  with  tears."  ' 

But  one  resource,  therefore,  remained ;  and  this,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  birth  of  Christianity,  was  adopt- 
ed. By  Imperial  mandate,  a  General  Council  of  the 
heads  of  the  different  Christian  communities  through- 
out the  Roman  Empire  was  summoned,  to  establish,  on 
the  united  authority  of  assembled  Christendom,  the 
true  doctrine  on  these  contested  points ;  and  to  this  we 

'  Socrates,  lib.  i.,  chap.  vii. 

'  Socrates,  lib.  i.,  chap.  vii.     Eusebius  gives  the  whole  letter  in  *'  Vit. 

Const,"  ii.,  68. 


3-i  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


owe  the  second  Creed  in  our  Service,  whicli  still  from 
this  Council  bears  the  name  of  the  Kicene  Creed. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  May,  A.  d.  325,  that  this 
Great  Council  met  at  Nicaea,  in  Bithynia.  There  seemed 
a  special  wisdom  in  the  choice  of  place.  It  was  but 
twenty  miles  from  Nicomedia,  which  shortly  before 
had  been  selected  as  the  Capital  of  the  East.  Near 
enough,  therefore,  for  easy  access  of  the  Emperor,  so 
that,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  he  might  be  at  hand  as  a 
spectator  and  participate  in  what  was  done,"  it  was  not 
so  near  that  the  influence  of  the  Court  could  overshadow 
their  deliberations.  Perhaps  the  name  itself  may  have 
had  some  influence  in  determining  the  place.  "  It  is  a 
city,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  fitting  for  the  Synod,  called 
after  Victory,  *  the  City  of  Victory,'  or  *  Nicaea.'  "  * 

Fifteen  centuries  have  passed  away,  and  still  the 
ancient  city  of  Kicsea  stands,  a  monument  of  the  Great 
Council,  yet  how  changed  from  what  it  once  was! 
Then,  high  above  all  other  buildings,  rose  the  great 
dome  of  the  Church  of  the  Eternal  Wisdom,  and  on 
each  side  of  it  were  the  remains  of  the  old  heathen 
temples  of  Victory,  and  Juno,  and  Apollo,  their  broken 
porticoes  still  beautiful  in  ruin.  But  time  has  swept 
all  these  away.  At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
on  the  dismemberment  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Nicsea 
fell  before  the  arms  of  Orchan,  the  Ottoman  leader, 
and  he  at  once  transformed  it  into  a  Moslem  city.  The 
Church  of  the  Council  was  turned  by  him  into  a  mosque, 
the  symbol  of  Islam  was  substituted  for  the  mosaic 
ynages  on  its  walls,  and,  amid  the  rubbish  which  now 
marks  its  site,  Orchan's  name  appears  sculptured  over 

'  Eusebius,  "  Vit.  Const.,"  iii.,  6. 


CREEDS.  35 


the  doorway.  Attached  to  this  mosque,  the  first  Otto- 
man college  was  founded.  "  In  this  place,"  says  Yan 
Hammer,  "  where  the  Bishops  had  been  compelled,  on 
pain  of  deposition  and  exile,  to  renounce  their  heresy 
and  subscribe  the  Nicene  Formulary,  Christian  children, 
destined  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  the  Janizaries,  were 
now  forced  to  forswear  their  faith." 

Nature,  indeed,  is  unchanged,  and,  as  the  traveler 
now  approaches  the  ruined  city,  he  sees  the  same  grand 
features  of  the  landscape  which  must  have  arrested  the 
gaze  of  those  who  had  then  gathered  from  every  part 
of  Christendom — above  the  city,  the  wooded  slopes 
of  the  mountains  covered  by  the  chestnut-forests ;  at 
their  base,  the  Arcanian  Lake  communicating  with  the 
Sea  of  Marmora ;  and,  in  the  distance,  the  classical 
Olympus,  with  its  snowy  peaks  looking  down  on  the 
wide  stretch  of  hill  and  valley.  Around  the  city  still 
remain  the  same  ancient  rectangular  walls,  which  seem 
the  inclosure  of  a  wild  and  forsaken  chase,  for  within 
all  is  ruin  and  desolation.  Prostrate  columns  and  shat- 
tered walls,  which  Nature  is  covering  with  her  rich  verd- 
ure, and  tangled  vines  twining  over  the  broken  arches, 
fill  the  space.  No  sound  of  human  life  is  heard,  till 
with  toil  and  labor  the  centre  of  the  city  is  reached, 
and  there  is  Isnik,  a  miserable  Turkish  village,  "stand- 
ing within  the  walls,  which  form  a  circuit  of  four  miles 
around  it."  ^  Near  it,  surrounded  by  ruined  mosques, 
is  the  only  monument  of  old  Christian  times,  the  de- 
serted Church  dedicated  to  "  the  repose  of  the  Virgin." "" 
Here  the  Moslem  pilgrims  search  for  the  tombs  of  some 

»  Sir  Charles  Fellows's  "  Travels  in  Lycia,"  p.  83. 
«  Stanley's  "Eastern  Church,"  p.  172. 


36  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  the  heroes  of  their  earlj  history,  or  the  traveler 
from  the  West  endeavors  to  trace  the  faint  memorials 
of  the  city  once  so  famous  in  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Yet  that  was  a  scene  of  stirring  life  when  the  first 
Great  Council  gathered  there.  More  than  three  hundred 
Bishops  were  present,  and  presbyters  and  deacons  with- 
out number.  They  came  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
from  the  distant  East  and  the  scarcely-known  West. 
John  the  Persian  stood  side  by  side  with  Theophilus  the 
Goth,  from  the  extreme  North.  Alexander  of  Alexan- 
dria was  there,  to  aid  in  allaying  the  tempest  his  own 
rashness  had  raised  ;  and  there,  too,  was  Arius,  ready 
to  defend  his  doctrine.  He  was  marked  by  his  Asiatic 
dress  and  the  wildness  of  his  appearance,  as  if  he  was 
"  in  the  world,  yet  not  of  the  world."  And  face  to 
face  with  him  was  Athanasius,  then  a  young  deacon, 
yet  showing  in  that  early  day  the  same  intellectual  force 
and  energy  which  in  after-years  made  him  the  Great 
Defender  of  the  Faith.  Probably,  notwithstanding  his 
youth,  he  was  the  master-mind  of  the  assembly,  and  in 
the  Iberian  convent  at  Mount  Athos  is  an  ancient  fres- 
coed picture  of  the  Council,  which  represents  him  seated 
on  the  ground  in  his  deacon's  dress  writing  out  the 
Creed.  Perhaps  this  painting  embodies  the  idea  which 
was  entertained  through  the  East  of  his  share  in  this 
great  work.  The  hermit  Bishops  came  from  their  Egyp- 
tian caves  to  meet  the  astute  logicians  from  Alexandria 
and  Antioch.  Many  of  them  bore  the  marks  of  having 
suffered  for  the  faith,  for  the  days  of  martyrdom  had 
not  long  since  ceased,  and  there  were  those  still  living 
who  had  passed  through  the  great  persecution  of  Dio- 
cletian. 


CREEDS.  37 


"  Tliere  were  among  the  Bishops,"  says  Socrates, 
"  two  of  extraordinary  celebrity  :  Paphnutius,  Bishop  of 
Upper  Thebes ;  and  Spiridon,  Bishop  of  Cyprus."  The 
former  had  lost  an  eye  in  the  persecutions,  and  was 
esteemed  for  his  wonderful  sanctity.  The  latter  was 
taken  from  his  sheepfold  to  be  made  a  Bishop,  and  "  on 
account  of  his  extreme  humility  he  continued  to  feed 
his  sheep  during  his  prelacy."  To  both  w^ere  ascribed 
the  power  of  working  miracles.'  But  the  time  would 
fail  us  to  mention  even  the  prominent  members  of  that 
body.  Their  names  are  written  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
times,  yet  they  sound  strange  to  us  as  they  come  down 
through  the  intervening  centuries.^ 

Socrates  likens  the  Council  to  that  great  multitude 
which,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  listened  to  the  preach- 
ing of  St.  Peter,  composed  of  "  devout  men  of  every 
nation  under  heaven ;  except,"  he  says,  "  that  congre- 
gation was  inferior  in  this  respect,  that  all  present  were 
not  ministers  of  God,  whereas  in  this  assembly,  besides 
the  Bishops,  was  an  almost  incalculable  number  of  pres- 
byters, deacons,  and  acolyths,  attending  them."  ' 

The  historian  Eusebius  *  describes  the  scene,  at  which 
he  was  present,  as  being  himself  deeply  impressed  with 

'  Socrates,  lib.  i.,  chap.  x.  and  xi. 

'  It  is  perhaps  a  great  loss  that  the  Church  history  of  Philostorgius 
has  not  been  preserved.     It  was  favorable  to  the  Arians,  but  nothing  re- 
mains except  a  few  fragments  copied  in  Photius. 
•  '  Socrates,  lib.  i.,  chap.  viii. 

*  There  were  two  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Council  bear- 
ing this  name.  This  one,  Eusebius  the  historian,  Bishop  of  Ca9sarea, 
acted  with  the  orthodox  party,  though  he  was  said  to  be  a  semi-Arian. 
The  other  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  was  an  Arian,  and,  as  will  be 
seen  in  the  further  pages  of  this  narrative,  was  one  of  the  most  active 
partisans  on  that  side. 


38  THE  CnURCU  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

its  solemnity.  At  its  first  meeting  the  assembly  sat  in 
profound  silence,  while  the  great  officers  of  state  and 
other  dignified  persons  entered  the  hall  and  awaited  "  in 
proud  and  trembling  expectation"  the  appearance  of 
the  Emperor  of  the  world  in  a  Christian  Council.  At 
length  he  entered,  wearing  the  Imperial  diadem — a  light 
crown  of  gold,  set  with  rubies  and  sapphires  alternately — 
and  his  dress  of  purple  blazing  with  gold  embroidery  and 
precious  stones.  The  whole  assembly  at  once  rose  to  do 
him  honor.  He  advanced  to  a  low,  golden  seat  prepared 
for  him,  but  did  not  take  it  till  a  sign  of  permission 
had  been  given  by  the  Bishops.  "  Such,"  says  Socrates,* 
"  was  the  respect  and  reverence  which  the  Emperor  en- 
tertained for  these  men."  On  the  one  side  of  him  sat 
Hosius  of  Spain,  who  had  been  his  legate  to  Egypt  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  settle  this  difficulty,  and  on  his  right 
was  his  Eastern  favorite,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  "the 
father  of  ecclesiastical  history." 

'  Socrates,  "  Hist.,"  lib.  i.,  chap.  viii.  This  was  a  reverence  which  the 
Church  in  that  age  always  claimed  from  civil  rulers.  Gibbon  says  :  "  In 
the  Christian  Church,  which  intrusts  the  service  of  the  altar  to  h  perpetual 
succession  of  consecrated  ministers,  the  monarch,  whose  spiritual  rank  is 
less  honorable  than  that  of  the  meanest  deacon,  was  seated  below  the 
rails  of  the  sanctuary  and  confounded  with  the  rest  of  the  faithful  multi- 
tude. The  Emperor  might  be  saluted  as  the  father  of  his  people,  but  he 
owed  filial  duty  and  reverence  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Church." — ("  History," 
chap.  XX.) 

When  the  Emperor  Theodosius  had  entered  the  chancel  to  present  of- 
ferings, he  remained.  St.  Ambrose  asked  him  what  he  wanted,  and  on 
his  replying  that  he  remained  for  the  purpose  of  partaking  of  the  Holy 
Mysteries,  he  directed  the  deacon  to  address  him  in  the  following  words : 
"  The  priests  alone,  0  Emperor,  are  permitted  to  enter  within  the  pali- 
sades of  the  altar ;  all  others  must  not  approach  it.  Retire,  then,  and 
remain  with  the  rest  of  the  laity.  A  purple  robe  makes  Emperors,  but 
not  priests." — (Theodortt,  lib.  v.,  chap,  xviii.) 


CREEDS.  39 


One  of  the  leading  prelates — probably  Eusebius — 
commenced  the  proceedings  with  a  short  address  to  the 
Emperor,  followed  by  a  hymn  to  God.  Constantine 
then  delivered  an  exhortation  to  unity  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, which  was  interpreted  to  the  Greek  Bishops.  It 
displayed  a  Christian  spirit  which  it  would  have  been 
well  for  them  to  have  imitated.  "  The  moment,"  he 
says,  "  which  I  shall  consider  the  chief  fulfillment  of 
my  prayers  will  be  when  I  see  you  all  joined  together 
in  heait  and  soul,  and  determining  on  one  peaceful  har- 
mony for  all,  which  would  well  become  you  who  are 
consecrated  to  God,  to  preach  to  others."  * 

The  Council  sat  for  more  than  two  months,  and, 
as  we  before  stated,  the  Nicene  Creed  was  the  result 
of  its  solemn  deliberations,  while  the  anathema  of  the 
Church  was  pronounced  against  Arius  and  his  adher- 
ents. In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  of  their  debates, 
Eusebius  proposed  a  Creed  which  had  "  existed  before 
the  rise  of  controversy."  It  was  one  which,  he  subse- 
quently said,  in  an  Epistle  to  his  diocese,  when  describ- 
ing the  proceedings  of  the  Council,  "  he  had  received 
from  the  Bishops  who  were  his  predecessors,  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  which  he  was  instructed  when  he  was  baptized, 
and  which,  both  as  a  presbyter  and  when  placed  in  the 
Episcopal  office,  he  had  believed  and  taught."  ^  Of  thie, 
as  an  historical  fact,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  all  to 
whom  he  made  the  statement  in  his  Diocese  of  Csesarea 
nmst  have  been  acquainted  with  the  existence  of  this 
Creed  and  able  to  confirm  this  assertion.  It  was  adopted 
with  some  slight  alterations,  and,  therefore,  was  almost 

'  Eusebius's  "  Vit.  Const.,"  iii.,  12. 
^  Theodoret,  lib.  i.,  chap.  xii. 


40  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

identical  with  the  Nicene  Creed  as  we  have  received 
it.  It  must  have  been  an  early  formulary  of  doctrine 
adopted  in  the  cradle  of  our  faith — the  land  of  Pal- 
estine. The  Nicene  Creed,  therefore,  has  an  antiqui- 
ty far  beyond  the  date  of  its  formal  adoption  at  Ni- 
ceea. 

The  Creed  was  intended,  as  we  can  at  once  perceive, 
to  guard  the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  Divinity  by  all  that 
language  can  effect.  It  declares  that  he  is  "  God  of 
God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  begotten, 
not  made,  being  of  one  substance  with  the  Father." 
Three  hundred  and  eighteen  Bishops  confirmed  the 
Creed  by  their  signatures,  and  thus  was  recorded  the 
united  voice  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Creed  is  that  we  still  use,  except  that  for  the 
last  division,  which  was  afterward  added  at  the  Council 
of  Constantinople,  a.  d.  381,  there  originally  stood  the 
words  :  "  But  those  who  say  that  there  was  a  time  when 
He  was  not,  and  before  His  generation  He  was  not,  and 
He  was  formed  out  of  nothing,  or  that  He  was  of  an- 
other essence  or  hypostasis,  or  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
created,  or  is  changeable,  or  is  mutable,  the  Holy  Catho- 
lic and  Apostolic  Church  anathematizes." 

Another  change  is  the  insertion  of  the  word  Jllioque 
to  declare  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son.^^  When  this  was  done,  it  would 
be  difiicult  to  tell.  Its  adoption  grew  up  gradually  in 
the  West  of  Europe,  but  it  was  certainly  not  until  the 
eighth  century  that  it  received  any  authoritative  in- 
dorsement. Creeping  into  the  Creed  in  this  way,  it  is 
now,  unfortunately,  the  most  serious  obstacle  to  the 
counnunion  of  the  Greek  Church  with  our  own.     They 


CREEDS,  41 


say,  and  justly,  that  it  should  not  have  been  added  with- 
out the  direction  of  an  (Ecumenical  Council. 

The  difficulty  of  coming  to  some  agreement  in  the 
Council  arose  not  from  open  antagonism  of  opinion,  for 
this  could  have  been  met  by  argument.  It  was  caused 
by  the  dishonest  ingenuity  of  the  Arians  in  professing 
their  willingness  to  accept  the  orthodox  language,  while 
they  secretly  gave  it  a  different  meaning.  In  a  work 
of  liction,  whose  object  is  to  picture  the  proceedings  of 
those  times,'  there  is  a  most  truthful  view  given  of  these 
ceaseless  evasions  of  the  adherents  of  Arius  in  offering 
to  subscribe  to  articles  of  the  Creed  which,  with  a  men- 
tal reservation,  they  held  in  a  different  sense.  We  will 
give  a  scene  from  this  work  to  illustrate  this  point. 

"  It  was  now  wished  to  draw  up  a  Creed  which 
should  serve  to  express  the  faith  of  the  Church,  and 
which  should  yet  be  accepted — if  it  might  be  so — by 
all  the  Prelates.  The  only  difficulty  was  that  which 
concerned  the  Son  of  God,  to  use  language  which  could 
not  be  distorted,  and  which  yet,  in  its  declarations, 
should  be  simple  and  short. 

"  Alexander  had  been  speaking,  and  he  now  con- 
cluded by  proposing  that  the  Council  should  simply  de- 
clare the  Son  of  God  to  be  God. 

"  There  was  a  great  shout  of  applause.  *  It  is  the 
faith  of  Peter  !  It  is  the  faith  of  Paul !  Anathema  to 
him  that  gainsays  ! ' 

"  '  My  brother  of  Nicomedia,'  said  the  President, '  has 

'  *'  The  Quay  of  the  Dioscuri,"  London,  1860.  Although  this  account 
is  given  in  the  form  of  fiction,  yet  it  is  entirely  based  on  the  statements 
made  by  Athanasius,  where  all  these  evasions  and  references  to  texts  are 
narrated. — ("De  Decret.  Nic,"  sec.  19.) 


42  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

it  your  approbation  that  this  sacred  Council,  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  should  declare  the  Son  to  be  God?' 

"  *  I  would  so  declare  it  with  pleasure,'  said  Eusc- 
bius ;  '  but,  before  I  commit  myself  further,  I  would, 
with  your  Brotherliness's  permission,  consult  with  those 
with  whom  I  usually  act.' 

"  Accordingly,  he  and  several  other  of  the  Arian 
leaders  formed  a  circle  toward  the  left-hand  upper  cor- 
ner of  the  hall,  and  seemed  very  eager  in  debate.  Arius, 
Theonas  of  Marmarica,  and  Menophantus  of  Ephesus, 
appeared  the  most  emphatic  speakers.  At  the  end  of 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  Eusebius  of  !Nicomedia 
came  forward,  and  the  others  resumed  their  seats. 

"  *  We  are  content,'  said  he,  *  that  this  should  be  so 
expressed  in  the  Creed  :  "  I  believe  in  the  Son  of  God, 
God  Himself." ' 

"  There  was  great  applause,  and  I  really  thought 
that  the  two  parties  were  coming  to  an  agreement. 
But  Athanasius  seemed  very  ill  at  ease ;  he  passed  be- 
hind the  golden  throne,  and  spoke  hastily  to  the  leg- 
ates. In  another  minute  Ilosius  said,  '  Have  I  your 
Brotherliness's  leave  to  ask  Arius  a  question  ? ' 

"  '  Surely,'  replied  Eustathius. 

"  '  Arius,'  said  he,  *  do  I  understand  you  also  to  af- 
firm that  the  Son  of  God  is  God  ? ' 

"  *  I  am  ready  to  swear  my  belief  in  it,'  replied  he. 

"  ^  And  you  would  repeat  the  words  as  I  have  re- 
peated them  ? ' 

"  '  Surely — why  not  ?  Is  it  not  written  in  your 
law,  "  I  said,  ye  are  gods  ? "  If  he  then  called  them 
gods — ' 

"  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  darted  an  indignant  glance 


CREEDS.  43 


at  Arius.  So  this  was  what  they  meant,  this  the  grand 
truth  so  carefully  to  be  embodied  in  the  Creed,  that,  as 
theij  were  called  gods,  so  was  the  Eternal  Word  God — 
80,  and  not  otherwise  ! 

"  *  Out  with  the  Egyptian  !  Out  with  the  heretic ! ' 
was  the  cry. 

"  '  This  will  not  do,'  said  Ilosius ;  '  in  the  same 
sense  we  may  affirm  any  holy  man  to  be  God.' 

" '  Say,'  said  Leontius  of  Csesarea,  '  that  He  is  al- 
ways God.' 

"  '  I  do  say  so,'  replied  Arius. 

"  '  Nothing  clearer,'  cried  Menophantus. 

" '  Does  this  great  and  holy  Synod  adopt  that  ex- 
pression ? '  asked  the  president. 

"  '  Remembering,'  said  Arius,  *  that  it  is  written, 
"  We  which  live  are  always."  ^  Our  Lord  is,  as  I  have 
expressed  it,  God ;  He  lives  God,  therefore  He  is  al- 
ways God.' 

" '  1  affirm,'  said  Alexander,  *  that  He  is  very  God 
of  very  God.' 

" '  I  affirm  the  like,'  retorted  Eusebius  of  Nicome- 
dia ;  '  if  He  has  verily  been  so  made,  verily  He  so  is. 
Why,  the  majority  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less 
than  calling  Him  consubstantial  with  the  Father.' 

"  '  Let  us  say  so ! '  cried  Athanasius. 

"  '  The  Holy  Ghost  speaks  by  Athanasius  I '  was  the 
cry.  '  Athanasius  a  second  Peter  ! '  '  Athanasius  an- 
other Paul ! '     ^  Let  us  worship  the  consubstantial ! '  " 

The  great  point  of  dispute  ultimately  turned  on  an 
i  in  the  word  which  was  used  to  assert  the  inhererit 
Divinity  of  our  Lord.     Tlie  word  for  which  the  ortho- 

'  2  Cor.  iv.  11. 


41:  THE  CnURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

dox  contended  was  homousios  (of  the  same  substance), 
while  that  put  forward  bj  the  Arians  was  homoiusios 
(of  like  substance).  The  former  was  expressed  by  the 
word  consubstantial,  adopted  by  the  Council,  but  bit- 
terly opposed  by  the  Arians.  It  had  been  unwittingly 
suggested  by  the  Arians  themselves,  and  caught  up  and 
used  by  the  orthodox.  In  the  English  version  of  the 
Creed  it  is  expressed  by  the  phrase,  "  Being  of  one  sub- 
stance with  the  Father."  The  tradition  always  has  been 
that  Eusebius  of  Nicoraedia  first  altered  the  document 
by  secretly  inserting  the  i  before  he  signed  it.  The 
scene  is  thus  pictured  in  the  work  to  which  we  have 
before  referred  : 

"  On  the  next  morning  Constantine,  who  had  in  the 
mean  while  received  warniuG:  that  if  he  were  not  there 
the  session  was  likely  to  be  a  stormy  one,  was  present. 
At  first  matters  proceeded  tranquilly  enough.  The 
Creed  was  produced,  read  over,  and  then  the  signatures 
were  called  for.  And,  for  two  hours.  Metropolitan 
after  Metropolitan,  and  Bishop  after  Bishop,  came  up 
to  the  little  table  of  signature,  took  pen  in  hand,  and 
affixed  his  name.     The  recusants  held  back  to  the  last. 

"  There  were  seventeen.  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia 
was  their  spokesman. 

"  After  much  disputing,  '  I  entreat  you,'  he  cried, 
'  august  Emperor,  not  to  drive  us  to  stand  at  bay.  We 
have  done  good  service  to  your  throne ;  we  have  ever 
prayed  for  your  life  and  that  of  your  august  family  ; 
we  have  labored  for  the  propagation  of  the  true  faith  ; 
and  now,  for  a  word  unknown  to — unknown  to  ? — 
rather  rejected  by,  our  fathers,  we  are  to  be  made  of- 
fenders.' 


CREEDS.  45 


"  Hosius  was  about  to  reply,  but  the  Emperor  rose. 
•  Tliis  great  and  oecumenical  Synod,'  said  he,  '  has  been 
the  mouth  ;  I  am  but  the  hand.  What  it  confirms  with 
the  sword  of  tlie  Spirit  I  will  ratify  by  the  carnal 
weapon.  I  pronounce  no  theological  judgment,  but  the 
Bishop  that  signs  not  the  symbol  is  sent  into  exile.' 
The  resolute  manner  in  which  he  spoke  showed  that  no 
entreaties  could  move  him. 

"  After  an  hour's  weary  discussion  twelve  more 
signed.  And  now  there  were  but  five  dissentients, 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Theognius  of  Nicaea,  Maris  of 
Chalcedon,  and  Secundus  and  Theonas  of  Lybia. 

"  For  some  time  I  thought  that  these  five  would 
have  remained  firm,  but  the  love  of  the  world  was  too 
strong  in  Eusebius.  Just  as  the  Emperor  was  about  to 
declare  the  session  at  an  end,  he  advanced  to  the  table. 
For  a  moment  his  hand  was  held  over  the  symbol  it- 
self, as  if  he  were  diligently  perusing  it ;  he  then  signed 
hastily,  and  Maris  and  Theognius  followed  his  example. 

"  Eusebius  had  inserted  an  i,  thus  turning  homousios 
into  homomsios ;  ^  as  if  they  could  thus  cheat  the 
Searcher  of  hearts.  But  the  guile  answered  in  this 
world." 

It  shows  the  Oriental  character  of  the  Council,  that, 
of  all  the  Bishops  who  signed  the  Creed,  only  eight 
were  from  the  West.  The  Greek,  too,  in  which  it  was 
written  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  translate  into 
the  Latin  or  Teutonic  languages.  The  expressions  are 
too  subtile  to  be  represented  in  any  other  tongue,  and 
the  fine-drawn  distinctions  (like  the  i  on    which  the 

*  As  a  matter  of  history,  this  change  is  mentioned  by  Philostorgiua, 
i,  8. 


46  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

contest  turned)  with  regard  to  our  Lord's  union  of  na- 
tures defied  the  attempts  of  the  AVestern  theologians  to 
explain  them  in  their  language.  Thej  were  obliged, 
therefore,  to  coin  new  forms  of  speech,  Greek  in  their 
character,  which  often  were  but  an  approximation  to 
wliat  had  been  fully  set  forth  in  the  delicate  idioms  of 
the  original  text.  "  The  West,"  says  Milman,  "  accept- 
ed the  Creed,  which  its  narrow  and  barren  vocabulary 
could  hardly  express  in  adequate  terms."  * 

There  was  one  point  of  difference  between  the  con. 
tending  parties  at  NicaBa  so  marked,  that  it  deserves 
our  serious  attention.  The  orthodox  Fathers  did  not 
reason  from  their  own  interpretation  of  Scripture,  or 
base  their  arguments  upon  it.  They  bore  witness  to  a 
simple  matter  of  fact,  that  the  doctrine  they  avowed 
had  been  received  by  them  from  the  generations  before 
them,  and  they  knew  of  no  other  as  ever  existing  in 
their  respective  Churches.  On  the  contrary,  the  handful 
of  men  at  the  Council  who  advocated  Arianism  made 
no  appeal  to  uninterrupted  tradition  ;  they  only  argued 
from  their  own  views  of  Scripture.  They  might  have 
been  included  among  those  to  whom  Shakespeare  re- 
fers, who  live — 

*'  As  the  world  were  now  but  to  begin, 
Antiquity  forgot^  custom  not  hnownJ"*  * 

The  contrast  is  strikingly  referred  to  in  one  of  the 
treatises  of  Athanasius,  when  he  points  out  to  the  Ari- 
ans  the  fact  that  they  had  dated  one  of  their  confes- 
sions of  faith  by  the  consulate  of  the  current  year. 

*  "  Latin  Christianity,"  i.,  59. 

*  "  Hamlet,"  act  iv,,  scene  v. 


CREEDS,  4c1 


"Having  composed,"  lie  said,  "a  creed  according  to 
tlieir  tastes,  tliey  headed  it  with  mention  of  the  Consul, 
and  the  month,  and  the  day,  as  if  to  suggest  to  all  men 
of  understanding  that  now,  from  the  time  of  Constan- 
tius,  not  before,  their  faith  dates  its  origin.  ...  On 
the  other  hand,  at  Nicoea,  many  as  were  the  framers  of 
the  Creed,  they  ventured  nothing  such  as  these  three 
or  four  men  have  ventured.  They  did  not  care  to  head 
it  with  consulate,  month,  and  day,  but  said,  '  Thus  be- 
lieves the  Catholic  Church ; '  nor  had  they  any  delay 
in  stating  what  they  believed,  in  proof  that  their  views 
were  not  novel  but  Apostolical.  And  what  they  set 
down  was  no  discovery  of  theirs,  but  the  doctrine  which 
was  taught  by  the  Apostles."  ^ 

And  this  principle  on  which  they  acted  was  not  a 
mere  vague  and  floating  opinion.  On  the  contrary, 
they  regarded  their  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  which 
they  embodied  in  the  Creed  as  one  fixed  and  recog- 
nized, formally  committed  to  the  guardianship  of  every 
Bishop  everywhere,  and  by  him  made  over  to  his  suc- 
cessor. And  we  know  that  such  a  deposit  did  exist ; 
and  such  a  traditio  or  transmission,  with  regard  to  fun- 
damental doctrines,  was  formally  observed  in  and  from 
the  Apostolic  age.  Each  Bishop  appointed  to  watch  for 
the  welfare  of  the  Christian  Church  "  marked  well  her 
bulwarks,  and  set  up  her  houses,  that  he  might  tell  them 
that  come  after. ^^  ^ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  each  branch  of  the 
Church  had  its  own  distinct  line  of  traditionary  teach- 
ing from  the  Apostles.     It  is  to  this,  perhaps,  that  St. 

'  "  De  Synod.,"  3-5. 

'  Psalm  xlviii.  12  (Praycr-Book  version;. 


48  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

Jude  refers,  when  he  urges  the  duty  of  "  earnestly  con- 
tending for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered.^''  We 
may  believe,  then,  that  the  unanimity  which  prevailed 
in  the  Council  of  Nice  was  something  higher  than  a 
mutual  sacrifice  of  differences  for  the  sake  of  peace. 
It  had  more  weight  than  the  mere  decision  of  a  major- 
ity, no  matter  how  large.  It  was  the  joint  testimony 
of  the  many  branches  of  the  Church  represented  by 
their  Bishops  as  independent  witnesses,  to  the  separate 
existence  in  each  of  them,  from  time  immemorial,  of 
the  doctrine  in  which  they  found  they  all  agreed.* 

For  many  reasons  the  Council  of  Nice  was  the  most 
remarkable  body  which  had  ever  met  in  the  Church. 
It  proclaimed  to  the  world  a  startling  announcement. 
For  three  centuries  the  Church  and  the  lloman  Empii-e 
had  been  growing  up  side  by  side,  engaged  in  a  cease- 
less struggle  for  the  direction  of  the  human  mind. 
Here  we  have  the  first  public  and  acknowledged  con- 
fession that  the  Church  had  conquered.  "  The  weak 
things  of  this  world  had  confounded  the  strong ; "  and 
when  at  Nicjea  the  Emperor  of  all  the  known  world 
bowed  before  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Council,  we 
may  feel  that  the  victory,  to  achieve  which  so  many 
had  laid  down  their  lives,  had  been  won  at  last. 

During  these  passing  centuries,  too,  filled  as  they 
were  with  striking  incidents  in  those  days  of  heroic 
faith  and  bitter  persecution,  nothing  stands  out  promi- 
nent. In  every  part  of  the  world  to  which  the  Gospel 
had  gone,  whether  amid  the  palaces  of  the  Imperial 
City,  on  the  plains  of  India,  or  in  the  forests  of  West- 
ern Europe,  there  is  the  same  story :  on  the  one  hand, 

»  Brituh  Critic,  vol.  xx.,  p.  192. 


CREEDS.  49 


the  attempt  to  crush  the  Faith,  and  on  the  other,  the 
sublime  endurance  of  its  followers — the  ceaseless  struo;- 
gle  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New-born  Church. 

But  there  is  no  central  point  of  interest  or  influence. 
At  Nicsea  a  new  era  was  inaugurated.  For  the  first 
time  the  Church,  as  it  were,  emerges  from  the  chaos, 
and,  uniting  its  voice  w^ith  that  of  the  Empire,  points 
out  the  path  its  followers  were  to  tread  in  coming  cen- 
turies. There  was  a  significaney,  therefore,  in  the  title 
it  assumed,  "  The  Great  and  Holy  Synod." 

And  to  this  day,  in  the  Easlem  Church,  this  Creed 
retains  the  power  it  had  when  first  announced  by  the 
mandate  of  the  Roman  Emperor.  Among  the  many 
millions  of  the  Greek  Church  it  is  the  one  bond  of 
faith.  "  It  is  still  recited  in  its  original  tongue  by  the 
peasants  of  Greece ;  its  recitation  is  still  the  culminat- 
ing point  of  the  Service  in  the  Church  of  Russia.  The 
gi'eat  bell  of  the  Kremlin  Tower  sounds  during  the 
whole  time  that  its  words  are  chanted.  It  is  repeated 
aloud  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  people  by  the 
Czar  at  his  coronation  ;  it  is  worked  in  pearls  on  the 
robes  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  Moscow.  The  an- 
niversary of  the  Council  is  still  celebrated  on  special 
days.  Every  article  of  the  Nicene  Creed  is  exhibited, 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  Russian  Church,  in  little 
pictures,  and  thus  familiarized  to  the  popular  mind."  ^ 

And  so  through  the  West.  Wherever  the  Church  of 
England  is  planted — in  India  and  Australia,  in  Africa,  in 
the  isles  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  over  the  wide  ex- 
panse of  this  continent — this  Creed  is  incorporated  in  the 
Liturgy,  and  looked  upon  as  the  measure  of  faith.    It  is 

'  Stanley's  "  Eastern  Church,"  p.  148. 

3 


50  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

the  tie  which,  more  than  anything  else,  unites  us  to 
the  distant  East — to  the  Churches  of  Constantinople 
and  Antioch.  The  Greek  Church  has  never  formally 
received  the  Apostles'  and  Athanasian  Creeds  as  a 
part  of  its  ritual.  The  Kicene  alone  is  common  to  all 
Christendom.  The  very  place  it  occupies  in  the  Com- 
munion Service,  and  the  direction  to  recite  it  before  the 
administration  of  the  Eucharist,  is  derived  from  the 
Greek  Church,  "  to  guard  that  ordinance  against  Arian 
intruders."  *  There  was,  therefore,  a  prophecy,  which 
fifteen  hundred  years  have  verified,  in  that  declaration 
of  Athanasius,  "  The  word  of  the  Lord,  which  was 
given  in  the  Oecumenical  Council  of  Nicaea,  remaineth 
forever." 

And  now,  in  concluding  this  sketch,  will  some  of 
our  readers  ask,  "  What  was  the  future  history  of 
Arius  ? "  Though  condemned  hy  the  Council,  the  evil 
he  had  done  lived  after  him.  His  heresy  spread,  as  we 
have  shown,  and  had  its  strongest  hold  in  the  "West  of 
Europe,  where  the  Gothic  tribes  had  received  it  from 
their  earliest  teachers.  And  so  it  continued  for  nearly 
two  centuries  after  the  adoption  of  the  Creed  at  Nicfca; 
nor  did  it  end  in  France  until  Clovis,  on  the  field  of 
Vouill^,  struck  down  the  power  of  the  Arian  Visi- 
goths, and  their  leader  died  by  his  hand.  In  Spain  it 
w^as  dominant  until,  in  the  sixth  century.  King  Recared, 
in  the  Cathedral  at  Toledo,  professed  his  submission  to 
the  Catholic  Church.'     Thenceforth  Arianism  seems  to 

'  In  the  Communion  Service  of  the  Church  of  England  it  is  so  pre- 
scribed. In  the  American  Church  the  choice  is  allowed  in  the  CommuQion 
Service  between  the  Nicene  and  the  Apostles'  Creeds. 

«  Stanley's  "  Eastern  Church,"  p.  152. 


CREEDS.  51 


have  lost  its  vitality,  until  it  gradually  ceased  to  be 
numbered  among  the  recognized  heresies  of  the  day. 

But  Arius  himself  had  passed  the  culminating  point 
of  his  notoriety.  For  a  while  he  remained  in  Alexan- 
dria, vainly  striving  to  be  received  once  more  into  com- 
munion with  the  Church  by  Athanasius,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded Alexander  in  his  Episcopal  office.  Thence,  about 
ten  years  after  the  Council,  by  the  advice  of  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia,  he  removed  to  Constantinople.  There 
the  influence  of  his  friends  was  exerted  in  his  behalf 
with  the  Emperor,  and  on  his  being  admitted  to  an  in- 
terview, Arius  so  earnestly  avowed  his  belief  in  the 
Catholic  faith,  "  deceitfully  imitating,"  says  Theodoret, 
"  the  language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  that  the  scru- 
ples of  the  Emperor  were  swept  away,  and  he  com- 
manded Arius  to  be  received  again  to  the  communion 
of  the  Church.  The  words  in  which  he  delivered  his 
decision  were  characterized  by  an  anxiety  and  earnest- 
ness which  subsequent  events  almost  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  prophecy.  "Arius,"  said  he,  "has  well 
sworn,  if  his  words  had  no  double  meaning;  otherwise, 
God  will  avenge."  Unceasing,  indeed,  were  the  en- 
treaties of  the  Bishop  Alexander,  that  the  Emperor 
would  not  inflict  this  disgrace  upon  the  Church ;  but 
all  were  without  effect,  and  the  day  was  appointed  for 
his  reception,  which  his  friends  were  to  celebrate  by  a 
triumphal  procession  through  the  streets. 

The  previous  night  was  passed  by  the  aged  Bishop 
in  prayer  in  the  Church  of  Peace,  accompanied  by  two 
other  Bishops,  Hermogenes  of  Cappadocia  and  James  of 
Nisibis.  There,  before  the  holy  doors  of  the  altar, 
they  knelt,  while  twenty-four  priests  were  kneeling  be- 


52  THE  CUURCE  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

hind  them,  and  the  multitude  which  filled  the  Church 
kept  a  solemn  silence,  as  hour  after  hour  their  prayers 
ascended  on  high.  The  night  went  on,  and  the  moni- 
ing  light  stole  in,  and  still  Alexander,  though  fom'score- 
and-eight  years  old,  kept  his  vigil,  and  the  ceaseless  pe- 
tition of  the  aged  man  was,  "  If  Arius  is  to  be  joined  to 
the  Church  to-morrow  dismiss  me  Thy  servant ;  or  cut 
off  Arius,  lest,  if  he  enter  into  communion  with  Thy 
Church,  heresy  enter  also  !  "  * 

The  day  broke,  and  over  the  whole  city  was  heard 
the  music  of  trumpets,  and  flutes,  and  hautboys,  as  the 
procession  wound  around  through  the  streets.  From 
the  Emperor's  palace  it  was  to  make  the  circuit  of  the 
city  to  the  Great  Church.  On  the  procession  swept, 
through  the  long  street  of  St.  Irene,  till  it  reached  the 
Great  Square  and  wound  around  the  Poi^phyry  Pillar  of 
Constantino. 

Arius,  Eusebius,  Euzoius,  and  other  leaders,  came 
almost  at  the  end.  The  church  was  nearly  reached,  and 
the  moment  of  their  triumph  was  at  hand,  when  Arius 
complained  of  sudden  illness,  and  had  to  be  taken  into 
a  house  near  by.  Then  the  procession  halted,  and  a 
strange  hush  and  silence  fell  upon  the  square,  until  in 
a  few  moments  the  announcement  went  forth,  "  Arius 
is  dead ! "  And  so  it  was.  "  Immediately,"  it  is  written, 
"  he  fell  down  and  burst  asunder  and  expired."  '  Thus 
he  died  the  death  of  Judas  Iscariot. 

That  night  hymns  of  praise  ascended  in  the  Church, 
and  the  aged  Bishop  returned  thanks  to  God  that  his 
prayer  had  been  answered,  the  Church  been  freed  from 

*  Thcodorct,  lib.  i.,  chap.  xiv. 
"  Athauasius,  lib.  i.,  p.  670. 


CREEDS.  53 


its  threatened  disgrace,  and  he  wlio  so  long  hindered  the 
truth  "  had  been  taken  out  of  the  way."  "  This  was 
not,"  says  Theodoret,  ^'  because  he  rejoiced  at  the  death 
of  Arius — far  from  it,  for  all  men  must  die  ;  but  it  was 
because  his  mode  of  death  surpassed  the  judgment  of 
man." '  They  glorified  God,  because  so  evidently  "  He 
had  visited  His  people." 


A  few  years  later  and  another  Creed  was  put  forth, 
rather  as  the  amplification  and  explanation  of  the  Ni- 
cene.  Probably  that  refinement  of  Eastern  dialects  to 
which  we  have  before  alluded,  in  many  cases  allowed 
the  heretical  to  repeat  the  Nicene  Creed,  while  men- 
tally they  affixed  a  different  meaning  to  its  words. 
This,  therefore,  was  placed  beyond  a  doubt  by  the 
Creed  called  the  Athanasian,  which  gradually  made  its 
way  into  the  Church  and  became  an  acknowledged 
Creed  of  the  West.  It  is  a  portion  of  the  Ritual  of  the 
Church  of  England,  though  not  retained  in  the  Ameri- 
can Church.  For  many  centuries,  through  the  Middle 
Ages,  it  was  believed  to  be  the  work  of  Athanasius 
himself.  Even  the  English  Reformers  supposed  it  to 
be  from  his  hand.  But  this  is  disproved  by  internal  evi- 
dence. The  phraseology  is  often  that  which  Athanasius 
would  not  have  used,  while  the  assertion  of  the  Double 
Procession  of  the  Spirit — "  the  Holy  Ghost  is  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son  " — would  have  been  disowned  by 
him,  as  it  has  been  by  the  great  body  of  Oriental  Chris- 
tians. 

The  learned  have  now  united  in  the  belief  that  this 

*  Theodoret,  lib.  i.,  chap.  xii. 


54  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ancient  Hymn,  "  Quicunque  viilt,"  is  of  a  later  date.  It 
was  probably  composed  by  Hilary/  Bishop  of  Aries,  in 
Gaul,  not  earlier  than  the  year  426,  nor  later  than  the 
year  430.  It  was  written,  therefore,  but  little  more 
than  half  a  century  after  the  death  of  Athanasius.' 

And  so  it  has  come  down  to  us  in  its  pristine  pu- 
rity, unmutilated  among  all  the  changes  and  heresies 
which  arose.  Martin  Luther  called  it  "  the  bulwark  of 
the  Apostles'  Creed ; "  and  Calvin,  "  a  sure  and  fitting  in- 
terpreter of  the  Kicene  Creed."  It  bears  the  name  of 
the  great  Defender  of  the  Faith,  not  because  it  was  writ- 
ten by  him,  but  because  it  is  a  faithful  exposition  of 
the  doctrines  for  which  he  so  bravely  contended,  when 
he  stood  almost  alone — what  Milton  calls  "  the  sole  ad- 
vocate of  a  discountenanced  truth  " — when  his  motto  was 
obliged  to  be,  "  Athanasius  contra  mundum,"  and  (in 
the  striking  words  of  Hooker)  "  he  had  no  friend  but 
God  and  death."  '  Hooker,  indeed,  sums  up  the  history 
of  this  Creed  in  a  single  sentence :  "  Both  in  the  East 
and  West  Churches  it  was  accepted  as  a  treasure  of  in- 
estimable price,  by  as  many  as  had  not  given  up  even 
the  very  ghost  of  belief."  * 

Such  are  the  three  acknowledged  Creeds  of  the  Cath- 

*  The  authorship  of  this  Creed  has  of  course  been  the  subject  of  great 
dispute  among  theologians,  but  the  whole  question  seems  to  have  been 
exhausted  by  Waterland,  vol.  iv.,  p.  218,  "Ed.  Van  Mildert."  His  argu- 
ment in  behalf  of  Hilary,  once  Abbot  of  Lerins,  afterward  Bishop  of 
Aries,  seems  to  be  conclusive.  In  the  historical  notice  of  this  point  wc 
have  adopted  the  argument  contained  in  the  Charge  of  the  Archbishop 
(Beresford)  of  Armagh  in  1874. 

'  According  to  Socrates,  "  Eccles.  Hist.,"  lib.  iv.,  chap,  xx.,  this  took 
place  in  371,  but  Jerome  states  it  to  be  in  373. 

3  "  Eccles.  Polity,"  book  v.,  chap.  42.  -*  Ibid. 


CREEDS,  i{  y  .V  I  ^^^^  ti^  ^J  •J  ^ 


olic  Church.  Ludolph  of  Saxony,  in  his  "  LifG^^QiJi%" 
says ;  "  There  are  three  symbols  :  the  first  of  mfe^pos- 
tles,  the  second  of  the  Nicene  Council,  the  third  of  St. 
Athanasius ;  the  first  for  instruction  in  the  faith,  the 
second  for  explanation  of  the  faith,  the  third  for  de- 
fense of  the  faith."  In  these,  then,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  is  contained.  They  declare  the  sum  of  what  we 
are  to  believe  concerning  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost.  "  Enlarged  and  unfolded  during  four 
centuries,  according  to  the  needs  of  the  Church  and  the 
various  assaults  of  heresy,  these  Creeds  have  been, 
throughout  the  history  of  the  Church,  her  possession, 
her  sura  of  truth,  her  sacred  deposit."  ^  These  the  early 
Christians  repeated  when  they  met  together  ;  these  we 
now  profess  when  we  have  gathered  on  each  occasion 
of  public  worship ;  these  the  Church  has  maintained 
against  her  adversaries  ;  these  she  holds  out  to  her  chil- 
dren ;  and  with  these  she  hopes  to  meet  her  Lord  when 
He  returns  to  judgment. 


Let  us  look,  then,  at  the  reverence  with  which  these 
Creeds  were  regarded  by  the  early  Church ;  how  "  stead- 
fastly "  its  members  "  continued  in  the  Apostles'  doc- 
trine." They  considered  an  agreement  on  these  points 
to  be  fundamental ;  as  essential  to  the  very  being  of  a 
Christian  and  his  union  with  the  Church.  The  Creed 
was  called  the  "  Hule  of  Faith," "  because  it  was  the 
standard  and  rule  by  which  orthodoxy  and  heresy  were 

'  Mobcrly's  "  Forty  Days,"  p.  80. 

^  IJingham's  "  Orlg.  Eccles,,"  lib,  x.,  chap.  iii. 


56  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

known  and  examined.  Its  profession  was  esteemed 
necessary  to  the  admission  of  members  into  tlic  Church 
of  Christ  by  Baptism.  lie  who  deviated  from  it  in  any 
point  was  regarded  as  one  who  had  cut  himself  off  and 
separated  from  the  communion  of  the  Churcli* 

Irenajus  called  it  "  the  unalterable  Canon  and  Rule  of 
Faith,"  and  adds,  in  a  passage  so  ti-uly  eloquent  that  we 
cannot  forbear  quoting  it  entire :  "  This  is  the  message, 
and  this  the  Faith,  which  the  Church  has  received,  and 
which,  though  dispersed  throughput  the  whole  world,  she 
sedulously  guards,  as  though  she  dwelt  but  in  one  place, 
believes  as  uniformly  as  though  she  had  but  one  soul 
and  the  same  heart,  and  preaches,  teaches,  hands  down 
to  posterity,  as  harmoniously  as  though  she  had  but 
one  mouth. 

"  True  it  is,  the  world's  languages  are  various,  but 
the  power  of  the  tradition  is  one  and  the  same.  There 
is  no  difference  of  faith  or  tradition,  whether  in  the 
Churches  of  Germany,  or  in  Spain,  or  in  Gaul,  or  in  the 
East,  or  in  Egypt,  or  in  Afiica,  or  in  the  more  central 
parts  of  the  world ;  but  as  the  sun,  God's  creature,  is 
one  and  the  same  in  all  the  world,  so  also  the  preach- 
ing of  the  truth  shineth  everj^where,  and  lighteth  every 
one  who  will  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
Among  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  neither  he  who  is 
powerful  in  words  speaks  other  doctrine  (for  no  one  can 
be  above  his  Master),  nor  does  the  weak  in  the  word 
diminish  the  tradition.  For,  whereas  the  faith  is  one 
and  the  same,  neither  he  who  has  much  to  say  concern- 
ing it  hath  anything  over,  nor  he  who  speaketh  little 
any  lack."  * 

'  IrcnoDus,  lib.  i ,  chap.  iii. 


CREEDS.  57 


These  were  what  we  have  referred  to  as  the  golden 
days  of  the- Church  ;  but  now,  alas  ! — 

"  Tho  world  is  very  evil — 
The  times  are  waxing  late." 

We  have  fallen  upon  "  the  last  days  "  foretold  by 
the  Apostle,'  when  scoffers  are  found  to  deny  each  of 
these  truths  in  which  the  early  Christians  trusted,  and 
what  to  them  were  subjects  of  faith  and  adoration  are 
now  flung  from  lip  to  lip  with  irreverent  blasphemy. 
Yet,  as  thus  we  look  out  on  a  world  rent  by  conflicting 
beliefs,  where  the  waves  of  popular  opinion  toss  wildly 
about,  and  unity  of  doctrine  is  remembered  only  as 
something  belonging  to  far-distant  centuries,  is  it  not 
more  necessary  than  ever  that  we  should  cling  to  these 
ancient  forms,  which  thus  have  come  down  to  us  sanc- 
tioned by  the  reverence  and  love  of  ages  ?  Is  it  not  a 
blessing  that  they  have  been  preserved  to  us,  thus  to  be 
professed  when  we  gather  in  God's  House,  so  that  if  the 
living  minister  should  teach  anything  not  sanctioned  by 
the  faith,  the  words  of  the  Creed  which  he  is  obliged 
to  repeat  would  at  once  give  in  their  denial  ?  The 
members  of  our  Church  have,  therefore,  ever  before 
them  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles — the  "  old  paths  " 
are  plain  in  their  sight — and  in  all  the  essential  points 
of  faith  he  who  errs  must  willfully  wander  from  the 
truth. 

The  history  of  the  world,  indeed,  has  demonstrated 
the  necessity  for  fixed  creeds,  to  embody  doctrine  and 
preserve  it  unimpaired  from  age  to  age.  Wherever 
they  have  been  abandoned  it  seems  as  if  all  landmarks 

^  2  Timothy  iii.  i. 


58  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

had  been  given  up,  errors  have  crept  in,  and  their  prod- 
uct has  been  those  thousand  forms  of  heresy  which 
now  distract  the  world.  The  mind  of  man  needs  some- 
thing on  which  to  lean — something  to  relieve  it  from 
the  vague  and  the  indefinite — something  fixed  and  cer- 
tain— and  this  can  only  be  furnished  by  these  ancient 
formularies,  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  "  our 
fathers'  days  and  the  old  times  before  them."  Dealing 
only  with  the  essentials  of  faith,  they  place  before  us 
those  things  which  are  necessary  to  salvation — those 
which  he  who  abandons,  denies  the  Lord  who  bought 
him,  and  ceases  to  be  a  Christian. 

And  is  it  not  of  importance  what  we  believe  ?  Does 
the  Gospel  anywhere  indorse  that  false  liberality  of 
modem  days  which  would  esteem  all  creeds  alike,  and 
make  all  opinions  on  religion  matters  of  indifference  ? 
Ko.  A  Christian  disciple  is  bound  to  revere  and  main- 
tain the  doctrines  of  his  Divine  Master.  He  belongs  to 
the  school  of  Christ.  The  truths  in  which  he  rests 
have  had  their  origin  in  Heaven.  They  are  not  specu- 
lative refinements,  which  are  matters  of  fancy,  but  they 
constitute  the  living  principles  of  action  in  a  Chris- 
tian's heart ;  and,  in  proportion  to  the  freeness  of  their 
action,  they  give  a  coloring  to  his  whole  life,  and  form 
the  character  of  his  future  destiny. 

If,  indeed,  we  receive  but  half  of  the  truth,  the  de- 
ficiency to  us  will  be  made  up  by  a  corresponding  half 
of  error.*     Would  we  be  safe,  therefore,  we  must  go  to 

'  "  Doctrinal  errors  ever  produce  corresponding  errors  in  habits  of 
thinking  and  acting ;  and  the  professor  of  a  corrupted  theology,  strenu- 
ous as  may  be  his  efforts  and  pure  his  desires,  in  vain  attempts  to  reach 
the  moral  exaltation  of  him  to  whom  it  is  permitted  to  make  similar 


CREEDS.  59 


the  full  extent  of  all  the  knowledge  which  God  has 
seen  fit  to  communicate.  We  must  drink  the  whole  of 
the  cup  of  salvation  which  He  has  so  bounteously  put 
into  our  hands,  and  not  rest  satisfied  with  a  taste  on  the 
lips,  of  that  which  He  designs  to  pervade  the  whole 
body  with  life  and  vitality.  And  if  the  Apostle  has 
solemnly  declared  that  the  heathen  are  inexcusable  in 
neglecting  to  derive  a  knowledge  of  the  Godhead  from 
His  visible  works,*  how  much  more  inexcusable  are  they 
who  refuse  to  learn  truly  His  revealed  will,  when  it  is 
written  as  with  a  sunbeam  on  the  pages  of  His  word, 
and  the  Church,  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth," 
is  daily  teaching  them  what  it  was  that  Apostles  believed, 
and  for  which  confessors  and  martyrs  were  willing  to 
endure  the  fire  and  the  stake !  Happy,  then,  will  be 
the  blinded  heathen — happy  the  rejecting  Jew — com- 
pared w^ith  the  enlightened  Christian,  who  "  continues 
not  steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine !  "  The  truth 
is  with  him,  but  he  prizes  it  not,  and  with  light  pour- 
ing upon  his  pathway  he  treads  onward  in  darkness. 

But  is  not  this  one  of  the  trials  of  our  probation  ? 
In  this  mingled  state  we  see  nothing  clearly,  but  in 
every  case  something  is  left  to  faith  ;  and  thus  it  is  we 
are  to  select  the  truths  to  which  we  cleave,  and  while 
error  in  a  thousand  forms  is  seeking  to  entrap  us,  we 
are  to  "  prove  all  things,"  and  then  "  hold  fast  to  that 
which  is  good."     Difficult,  indeed,  would  be  the  task — 

efforts  under  the  guidance  of  a  clearer  light.  In  the  Papal  schools  of  the 
Middle  Ages  we  may  find  devotion,  zeal,  charity  ;  but  we  should  not  look 
to  them  for  that  completeness,  that  holy  consistency  of  character,  which 
was  the  ornament  of  earlier  and  purer  times." — (Bowdcn's  "  Life  of  Greg- 
ory VII.,"  vol.  i.,  p.  12.) 
*  Romans  i.  20. 


60  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

nay,  often  impossible,  were  we  left  to  ourselves ;  but 
there  are  voices  coming  to  ns  from  the  distant  past. 
Thej  are  those  formularies  which  have  grown  up  amid 
blood  and  persecution,  when  holy  men  were  compelled 
to  concentrate  all  their  powers,  and  give  up  all  their 
hearts  and  minds,  to  that  word  in  whose  truth  alone 
they  could  iind  rest  or  happiness.  To  those,  then,  let 
us  cling,  until  the  time  comes  when  all  doubt  is  over, 
and  faith  gives  place  to  certainty.  As  the  redeemed 
enter  the  Paradise  of  God,  the  last  shadow  which  dark- 
ens their  spirit  will  fade  away,  and  they  find  themselves 
in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  "  the  Father  of  lights." 

And  then,  too,  the  Lord  Himself  shall  be  the  teacher 
of  Ilis  Church,  and  lead  Ilis  people  into  all  ti-utli.  With 
minds  no  longer  straitened  by  human  infirmity,  as  cen- 
turies go  by  they  will  be  Icaniing  more  deeply  the  lore 
of  Heaven,  and  be  ever  acquiring  wider  views  of  those 
doctrines  of  which  the  lessons  of  the  Church  on  earth 
were  but  the  nidiments  and  first  beginnings. 


II. 

FELLOWSHIP. 


■  0  blest  communion,  fellowship  divine  ! 
We  feebly  struggle,  they  in  glory  shine  ; 
Yet  all  are  one  in  Thee,  for  all  are  Thine. 
And  when  the  strife  is  fierce,  the  warfare  long, 
Steals  on  the  ear  the  distant  triumph-song, 
And  hearts  are  brave  again,  and  arms  are  strong." 

W.  W.  How. 


II. 

FELLOWSHIP. 

To  "continue  steadfastly  in  tbe  Apostles'  fellow- 
Bhip  "  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  remaining  stead- 
fast in  their  doctrine.  Those  who  revered  their  teach- 
ing and  wished  to  conform  to  the  faith  they  preached, 
could  not  abandon  the  Unity  of  the  Church.  St.  Paul 
had  indignantly  asked,  "Is  Christ  divided?"  And 
when  the  Apostles  had  gone  to  their  rest,  and  the 
Church  found  the  necessity  of  embodying  its  faith  in 
Creeds,  one  article  which  it  always  held  prominently 
forward  was,  "  I  believe  in  one  Holy  Catholic  Church." 
Even  heretics  acknowledged  this  truth,  and  when  they 
wandered  from  the  faith,  they  still  clung  to  the  Apos- 
tolic ministry.  The  Arians  attempted  to  form  no  new 
Church ;  and  even  the  schismatic  Donatists  and  E'ova- 
tians  never  gave  up  their  claim  to  be  a  portion  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

The  early  Christians  knew  no  other  doctrine  ;  they 
recognized  no  other  faith.  Looking  back  to  the  last 
solemn  petitions  of  their  Lord,  when  He  prayed  that 
His  followers  might  be  one,  as  He  and  the  Father  were 
one,*  they  realized  that  grievous  was  the  sin  of  him 
who  should  break  this  holy  fellowship,  and  introduce 

^  John  xvii.  21. 


64  THE  CIIURCn  OF  TUB  APOSTLES. 

dissensions  into  that  Church  which  is  to  be  on  earth 
a  type  of  the  Church  in  Heaven. 

The  subject,  then,  of  this  chapter  will  be,  that  fel- 
lowship wiTu  THE  Apostles  which  was  the  privilege 
of  the  early  Christians,  and  which  they  have  be- 
queathed to  us  who  are  now  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  It  was  the  privilege  of  all  who,  in  every  pe- 
riod of  the  world,  remained  steadfast  in  the  Church 
which  God  founded.  It  was  synonymous  with  mem- 
bership in  the  true  Visible  Church.  The  view  we  shall 
attempt  to  give  will  necessarily  be  historical.  Looking 
back  through  all  ages  of  the  fonner  dispensations,  we 
shall  see  that  everywhere  the  plan  of  God  was  one 
which,  as  in  the  Apostolic  days,  recognized  the  Unity 
of  the  Church,  and  that  every  infringement  of  this 
Unity  was  the  result  of  man's  evil  passions  alone. 

The  first  Church  was  necessarily  the  Patriarchal. 
We  behold  its  worship  in  the  earliest  sacrifice  which 
was  offered,  when,  in  the  morning  of  the  world,  Cain 
and  Abel  presented  their  gifts  before  God.  It  was 
seen  again  when  Noah  stood  with  a  single  family  upon 
Ararat,  and  there,  looking  out  over  a  world  baptized 
by  the  flood,  and  with  the  bow  of  promise  stretching 
over  his  head,  he  consecrated  it  anew  by  sacrifice  to 
God.  In  those  days  there  could  be  no  separate  and  a}> 
pointed  priesthood.  The  patriarch  ministered  in  holy 
things  to  his  own  family,  thus  invested  with  the  double 
title  of  earthly  and  spiritual  father. 

But  as  the  human  race  extended,  and  men  "  went 
out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,"  it  became  neces- 
sary to  confine  the  Visible  Church  within  narrower  lim- 
its, to  preserve  it  from  influences  which  led  men  off  to 


FELLOWSHIP.  65 


idolatry.  Therefore,  Abraham  was  called  to  come  out 
from  his  kindred,  and  in  this  world  to  be  the  repository 
of  Divine  Truth  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  should 
come  after.  Then  the  Church  of  God  was  restricted  to 
such  as  had  gathered  beneath  his  tent  on  the  plains  of 
Mamre ;  and  while  the  Syrian  shepherds  worshiped 
God  in  those  mighty  solitudes  where  they  dwelt,  they 
were  often  the  sole  possessors  of  His  truth  in  the  world. 

The  Church  then  had  its  duty  to  discharge,  and  we 
see  plainly  what  it  was.  It  was  to  preserve  unimpaired 
the  doctrine  of  God's  Unity,  resisting  that  tendency 
which  everywhere  was  leading  men  to  polytheism,  as 
the  untutored  mind  craved  some  visible  symbol  of  the 
Deity,  and  turned,  therefore,  most  naturally  to  the 
Hosts  of  Heaven — to  the  sun  coming  forth  in  his  glory 
and  "  the  moon  walking  in  brightness."  This,  then, 
was  the  charge  of  the  Patriarchal  Church,  and  thus  it 
can  be  traced  down  the  stream  of  history  in  the  sacred 
records.  Its  unity  is  always  clearly  marked,  for  the  in- 
spired historians  confined  themselves  almost  entirely  to 
its  fortunes  as  being  alone  worthy  of  narration,  while 
occasional  and  incidental  only  are  the  notices  of  those 
beyond  its  pale. 

Few  and  simple,  therefore,  were  the  revelations  of 
that  early  day.  To  the  patriarchs  the  past  teemed  not, 
as  it  does  to  us,  with  countless  monuments  of  God's 
wondrous  doings,  which  had  their  influence  on  the 
question  of  man's  salvation.  Tradition,  indeed,  told 
him  of  the  blissful  days  of  Paradise,  and  of  the  sor- 
rowful fall  which  had  eclipsed  its  glory,  and  made  man 
a  wanderer  over  the  earth  which  his  sins  had  cursed. 
To  them  but  one  single  promise  lightened  up  the  dark- 


6G  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

ened  pathway  of  the  human  race,  while  it  spake  of  a 
conflict  to  be  w^aged — a  victory  to  be  gained ;  and  a 
distant  Redeemer  vaguely  shadowed  forth,  as  the  one 
who  was  to  restore  to  man  his  lost  inheritance/  But 
with  us,  who  read  the  history  of  those  ages,  there  is  no 
hesitation  as  to  which  were  the  true  people  of  God. 
The  existence  of  the  One  Church  is  evident. 

The  time  at  length  came  when  there  was  to  be  a 
plainer  manifestation  of  the  Church.  The  Jewish  Dis- 
pensation succeeded  the  Patriarchal.  Then  the  Chiu'ch 
stood  forth  even  more  prominently  before  the  world. 
Its  members  were  cut  off  from  the  nations  around  them, 
and  hedged  in  by  countless  rites,  so  as  to  create  an  im- 
passable barrier  between  them  and  the  impure  services 
of  the  heathen  with  whom  they  were  brought  in  con- 
tact. The  worshipers  then  stood  upon  a  higher  groimd 
than  they  did  under  the  former  system.  Before  their 
eyes  was  a  long  series  of  signal  and  glorious  mercies, 
and  prophecies  without  number,  growing  more  specific 
every  age,  while  the  very  land  in  which  they  lived  was 
a  testimony  and  pledge  of  God's  favor. 

Then  there  was  a  priesthood  constituted  by  God 
Himself,  and,  we  are  told,  at  the  altar  none  had  a  right 
to  minister  but  "he  that  was  called  of  God,  as  was 
Aaron.'"  Then  membership  in  the  one  Church  was  a 
known  and  acknowledged  privilege,  and  to  be  cut  off 
from  it,  to  be  regarded  "  as  a  heathen  man,"  was  looked 
upon  with  trembling,  as  a  punishment  which  debarred 
the  offender  from  all  spiritual  hopes  in  this  world  and 
the  next.  The  Jew  turned  with  horror  from  the  schis- 
matic Samaritans,  and  even  our  Lord  declared  to  the 

»  Gen.  iii.  15.  »  Ilcb.  v.  4. 


FELLOWSHIP.  67 


woman  of  tliat  nation :  "  Ye  worship  ye  know  not 
what :  we  know  what  we  worship :  for  salvation  is  of 
the  Jews."  ^  There  was  no  doubt  in  that  day  with  re- 
gard to  the  Unity  of  the  Church.  All  the  true  wor- 
shipers were  "  of  Israel,"  and  "  to  them,"  the  Apostle 
declares,  "  pertained  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and 
the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  ser- 
vice of  God,  and  the  promises."  ^ 

Twenty-live  centuries  passed  away,  and  the  Church 
assumed  another  form,  or  rather  was  developed  at  last 
into  the  fullness  of  which  the  former  Dispensation  gave 
only  the  promise  and  the  germ.  The  Jewish  polity 
had  perfonned  its  office  in  preserving  the  prophecies 
of  the  Messiah,  and  by  the  array  of  types  and  sacrifices 
familiarizing  the  world  with  all  those  great  principles 
which  were  to  meet  their  reality  on  the  heights  of  Cal- 
vary. Then  came  the  "  fullness  of  time,"  and  our  Lord 
sent  forth  His  Apostles  with  authority  to  found  that 
spiritual  Church  which  was  to  he  His  last  gift  to  men. 
And  we  have  already  remarked  how  earnestly  He  peti- 
tioned in  His  last  prayer  that  its  unity  might  be  pre- 
served. Nowhere,  indeed,  through  the  whole  of  Script- 
ure, is  there  any  intimation  given  that  varying  Creeds 
and  differing  folds  were  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
Him  who  is  "  not  the  author  of  confusion,  but 
peace." ' 

Then  the  faithful  had  not  only  fellowship  with  God, 
but  also  "  fellowship  one  with  another."  Whether  St. 
Peter  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Babylonian  colony  on 
the  Euphrates,  or  St.  Thomas  in  distant  India,  or  St. 

*  John  iv,  22.  ^  Rom.  ix.  4.  »  1  Cor.  xiv.  33. 


OS  TUB  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


Paul  in  the  scarcely-known  Britain,  everywhere  they 
founded  but  one  Church. 

*'  From  many  an  ancient  river, 
From  manj  a  palmy  plain  " — 

in  strange  tongues  prayers  went  up  to  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, and  professions  of  faith  were  made,  as  the  Chris- 
tians gathered  on  their  Holy  Day,  yet  everywhere  the 
doctrine  was  the  same,  and  all  were  bound  together  in 
one  chain  of  brotherhood.  They  were  different  portions 
of  the  same  Church,  like  different  branches  of  the  same 
vine,  all  tracing  upward  through  the  same  Apostolic 
Ministry.  "  There  is  one  Church,"  says  St.  Cyprian,  "  di- 
vided by  Christ  throughout  the  whole  world  into  many 
members,  and  also  one  Episcopate  diffused  through  a 
harmonious  multitude  of  many  Bishops."  *  The  Chris- 
tian of  Antioch,  when  he  sojourned  in  Spain  or  Gaul, 
found  there,  too,  the  Altars  of  his  Church,  and  united 
with  a  free  heai-t  in  all  her  worship.'     This  was  its  out- 

»  Epistle  li. 

'  We  sec  this  intereommunism  everywhere  through  the  Acts.  "  The 
Churches  of  Christ "  saluted  the  faithful  of  Rome  (xvi.  16).  The  Churches 
of  Asia  "  saluted"  that  of  Corinth  (1  Cor.  xvi.  19).  "  Letters  of  commen- 
dation "  are  alluded  to  as  being  common  (2  Cor.  iii.  1).  The  Epistles 
written  to  the  Corinthians  and  Laodiceaus  are  directed  to  be  read  in 
both  Churches  (Col.  iv.  15,  16). 

At  a  later  day,  Eusebius  in  his  "  History  "  (iv.,  23)  gives  many  in- 
stances of  this.  The  Church  of  Rome  sends  aid  to  that  of  Corinth.  St. 
Clement,  the  Bi:?hop  of  Rome,  writes  to  the  Corinthians  to  exhort  them 
to  unity.  Ignatius,  the  Bishop  of  Antioch,  and  Dionyslus,  Bishop  of 
Corinth,  wrote  many  Epistles  to  other  Churches,  as  noticed  by  Eusebius. 
When  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  came  to  Rome,  the  Bishop  allowed 
him  to  consecrate  the  Eucharist  in  his  presence,  to  show  their  union. 
And  Bingham  ("  Orig.  Eccles.,"  v.,  1,  s.  3)  shows  that  the  use  of  commen- 
datory letters  was  universal.     The  seventh  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Car- 


FELLOWSHIP.  GO 


ward  unity — that  unity  after  which  the  heart  of  man 
is  always  now  sighing,  which  alone  presents  the  Church 
before  the  world  as  it  should  be,  in  all  its  strength,  to 
prosecute  its  warfare  against  tlie  powers  of  evil. 

Take  any  branch  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  and  how 
striking  is  the  view  it  gives  us,  stretching  onward  from 
age  to  age,  as  it  rides  over  every  changing  form  of  gov- 
ernment, contends  through  passing  centuries  with  every 
kind  of  idolatry  and  error,  and  rises  unharmed  above 
the  torrents  of  persecution  which  sweep  around  it ! 
As  an  illustration  of  this,  look  at  the  history  of  the 
Great  Oriental  Church.  "  Uninterrupted  successions  of 
Metropolitans  and  Bishops  stretch  themselves  to  Apos- 
tolic times;  venerable  Liturgies  exhibit  doctrine  un- 
changed and  discipline  uncorrupted  ;  the  same  sacrifice 
is  offered,  the  same  hymns  are  chanted,  by  the  Eastern 
Christians  of  to-day,  as  those  which  resounded  in  the 
Churches  of  St.  Basil  or  St.  Firmilian.  In  the  glow 
and  splendor  of  Byzantine  glory,  in  the  tempests  of  the 
Oriental  Middle  Ages,  in  the  desolation  and  tyranny  of 
the  Turkish  Empire,  the  testimony  of  the  same  immu- 
table Church  remains  unchanged.  Extending  herself 
from  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk  to  the  palaces  of  Yenice,  from 
the  ice-fields  that  grind  against  the  Solevetsky  Monas- 
tery to  the  burning  jungles  of  Malabar ;  embracing  a 
thousand  languages,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  but  bind- 
ing them  together  in  the  golden  link  of  the  same  faith ; 
offering  the  sacrifice  in  a  hundred  Liturgies,  but  offer- 
ing it  to  the  same  God  ;  and  with  the  sames  rites  fixing 
her  patriarchal  thrones  in  the  same  cities,  as  when  the 

thage,  and  the  forty-first  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  render  these 
letters  indispensable  both  for  clergy  and  laity. 


YO  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Disciples  were  called  Cliristians  first  at  Antiocli,  and 
James,  tlie  brother  of  the  Lord,  finished  his  course  at 
Jerusalem,  oppressed  by  the  devotees  of  the  false 
Prophet,  as  once  by  the  worshipers  of  false  gods — she 
is  now,  as  she  was  from  the  beginning,  multiplex  in 
her  arrangements,  simple  in  her  taith,  difficult  of  com- 
prehension to  strangers,  easily  intelligible  to  her 
sons,  widely  scattered  in  her  branches,  hardly  beset 
by  her  enemies,  yet  still  and  evermore  what  she  de- 
lights to  call  herself.  One,  Only,  Holy,  Catholic,  and 
Apostolic.  .  .  . 

"  For  eighteen  hundred  years  this  venerable  Com- 
munion has  fought  the  good  fight,  and  borne  about  in  her 
body  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Since  she  armed 
Athanasius  against  Arius,  and  sent  forth  Cyril  against 
Nestorius,  unnumbered  heresies  have  assailed  her :  foes 
in  every  shape  have  surrounded  her ;  without  have 
been  fightings,  within  fears ;  her  existence  itself  has 
oftentimes  been  a  very  agony;  yet  the  gates  of  hell 
have  never  prevailed  against  her.  Idolatry  and  Apos- 
tasy have  attempted  her  subjugation  and  confessed  her 
invincible  ;  Kings  and  Caliphs,  Emperors  and  Sultans, 
have  stood  up  against  her,  but  the  King  of  Kings  and 
Lord  of  Lords  has  been  on  her  side.  Sapor  and  the 
fire-worshipers  were  vanquished  by  the  victories  of  the 
innumerable  Martyrs  of  Persia ;  Tiridates  and  the 
idolaters  of  Armenia  were  overthrown  by  the  miracles 
of  St.  Gregory  the  Illuminator ;  Abreha  and  Atrbeha^ 
with  their  Ethiopic  subjects,  repented  at  the  preaching 
of  St.  Fruraentius.  .  .  . 

"  The  Impostor  of  Mecca  poured  out  his  hordes  from 
Arabia,  and  taught  them  to  look  for  a  type  of  the  cool 


FELLOWSHIP.  Yl 


shades  of  Paradise  in  the  shadows  of  the  clashing  cime- 
ters.  Persia  fell  before  his  generals;  Abubekr  and 
Omar  poured  their  legions  into  Syria.  Antioch,  and 
Jerusalem,  and  Aleppo,  and  Alexandria,  bowed  them- 
selves before  the  accursed  crescent.  The  Empire  of  the 
Caesars  was  vanquished,  and  limited,  and  contracted : 
the  spiritual  dominion  of  the  Eastern  Church  stooped 
not  to  the  victor.  Many  a  noble  victory  was  won  for 
Christ ;  many  a  glorious  athlete  was  sent  to  martyrdom. 
The  Church  rode  out  this  storm  :  as  little  did  she  quail 
before  the  successive  billow^s  of  devastation  that  poured 
in  around  her.  The  Caliphates,  Ommiad,  Fatimite,  and 
Ayoubite,  rose  and  fell ;  she,  hated,  despised,  persecuted 
by  all,  mocked  at  their  destruction  ;  the  Seljukian  Sul- 
tanate glared,  and  was  extinct  like  a  meteor ;  the  Mon- 
golian hordes  filled  Asia  and  half  Europe  with  devas- 
tation and  dismay ;  and  finally  the  Turks  overwhelmed 
Constantinople  itself,  and  closed  the  annals  of  the  East- 
em  Empire.  But  the  Eastern  Church  survived :  dis- 
pirited, persecuted,  humbled  to  the  very  dust,  from 
generation  to  generation  she  handed  down  the  power 
of  the  keys  and  offered  the  mystic  sacrifice.  .  .  .  And 
it  may  well  be,  that  in  the  great  regeneration  of  the 
Church,  in  the  second  and  more  blessed  Pentecost,  the 
GEcumenical  Throne  of  the  East  will  bear  no  small 
part."  ' 

Is  it  strange,  then,  that  we  love  to  linger  on  this 
scene  ;  that  in  a  world  rife  with  contentions,  and  where 
the  voice  of  controversy  ever  strikes  upon  the  ear,  we 
should  gladly  turn  to  those  glorious  exhibitions  of  the 
Apostolic  Church,  as  it  won  its  triumphs,  which,  begin- 

*  Ncale's  "  History  of  the  Holy  Eastern  Church,"  Introduction. 


T2  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ning  in  the  earliest  times,  have  even  now  not  ceased  : 
showing  from  age  to  age  that  unquenchable  life  which 
is  the  result  of  its  divine  organization  !  It  mattered 
not  what  were  the  persecutions  without,  while  within 
they  were  called  by  but  one  name,  and  answered  to  but 
one  tribunal.  Its  unity  gifted  it  with  a  power  which 
nothing  else  could  have  done  ;  and  even  when,  in  after- 
centuries,  differences  arose  between  the  Latin  Church 
of  the  West  and  the  Greek  Church  of  the  East,  yet 
neither  severed  itself  from  the  Apostolic  Ministr}^,  and 
their  Bishops,  as  we  have  seen  at  Nice,  sat  together  in 
Council.  It  was  reserved  for  the  last  three  hundred 
years  to  present  to  the  world  the  picture  of  a  religious 
community  utterly  divided,  and  those  who  should  be 
members  of  the  same  household  arrayed  against  each 
other  under  different  names. 

Such  is  the  view  of  "  fellowship  with  the  Apos- 
tles" which  history  gives  us  from  the  earliest  times. 
We  turn  to  the  writings  of  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St. 
John,  and  we  find  that  he,  when  speaking  of  the  three 
orders  of  the  Ministry  in  his  day,  could  assert,  "With- 
out these  there  is  no  Church."  *  Then  fifteen  hundred 
years  pass  by,  during  which  the  organization  of  the 
Church  is  unaltered.  Amid  the  commotions  and  changes 
of  the  Reformation,  the  learned  Hooker  could  send 
forth  the  challenge  to  those  who  had  renounced  the 
Apostolic  Ministry :  "  We  require  you  to  find  but  one 
Church  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  that  hath 
been  ordered  by  your  discipline,  or  hath  not  been  or- 
dered by  om*s,  that  is  to  say,  by  Episcopal  regiment, 
sithence  the  time  that  the  blessed  Apostles  were  here 

J  Epistle  to  Tiallians,  sec.  3. 


FELLOWSHIP.  73 


conversant."  *  This  challenge,  given  in  1594,  has  never 
been  answered. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 
that  a  religious  convulsion,  known  as  the  Eeformation, 
shook  the  world,  and  parted  into  many  folds  those  who 
professed  and  called  themselves  Christians.  With 
many  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  who  followed  Luther 
or  Calvin,  the  chain  of  the  ministry  which  bound  them 
to  Apostolic  times  was  broken,  and  a  self-constituted 
authority  took  its  place.  Then,  division  followed  divi- 
sion, until  the  ecclesiastical  historian  feels  as  if  looking 
down  upon  a  wdld  scene  over  which  chaos  broods,  as  he 
endeavors  in  vain  to  record  the  narrative  of  its  cease- 
less changes,  unable  to  explain  or  even  count  the  ever- 
varying  fantasies. 

With  our  own  Church  it  was  not  so.  Turning 
away  from  those  who  were  "  Emulous  of  change,"  the 
Church  of  England  merely  threw  off  the  corruptions 
which  ages  had  been  gathering  about  it,  and  clinging 
to  "  the  treasure  of  hereditaiy  belief,"  she  retained  the 
succession  of  the  Apostolic  Ministry,  and  altered  noth- 
ing that  was  fundamental.  Thus  she  preserved  her 
primitive  character,  and,  while  others  wandered  away 
into  the  endless  subdivisions  of  Augsburg  and  Geneva, 
she  "  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  fellowship." 

This,  then,  is  the  historical  view  of  the  subject. 
We  perceive  how,  througli  all  the  centuries  which  have 
passed,  it  was  the  plan  of  Providence  to  present  but 
one  Church  before  the  world,  and  that,  when  this  unity 
at  last  was  broken,  it  was  but  a  repetition  of  the  sin  of 
Korah  in  the  w^ilderness.'     And  now,  will  the  question 

'  Preface  to  "  Eccles.  Polity,"  sec.  4.  "  Numbers  xvi. 

4 


74:  THE  CHURCn  OF  TEE  APOSTLES. 

be  asked  by  any  one,  "What  is  the  worth  of  this  Unity  ? 
It  would  not  be  strange  if  it  were,  for  there  are  those 
who,  looking  over  this  scene  of  disorder  and  conflict, 
can  even  rejoice  that  these  things  are  so,  as  if  competi- 
tion was  a  necessary  element  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  our  Lord  could  not  accomplish  His  plans  for  the 
renovation  of  the  world  but  through  the  weakness  and 
failings  of  His  followers.  But  we  will  meet  this  argu- 
ment by  referring  to  the  Church  in  early  ages,  and 
showing  its  influence  on  the  world,  when  it  stood  forth 
one  single,  united  body,  which  all  everywhere  could 
recognize,  contrasted -with  the  evils  which,  in  these  lat- 
ter days,  have  gathered  about  us. 

While,  then,  there  was  but  one  Church  throughout 
the  world,  it  possessed  the  power  of  discipline.  We 
know  no  better  way  to  illustrate  this  than  by  a  com- 
parison with  the  Roman  Empire,  which  then  stretched 
its  sway  over  the  whole  known  world.  There  were 
different  provinces,  and  rulers,  and  languages,  yet  over 
all  brooded  one  mighty  power,  which  was  felt  from 
the  extremity  of  AVestern  Europe  to  the  confines  of  In- 
dia. AVhither,  then,  could  the  offender  flee?  For  a 
crime  committed  in  any  part  of  that  vast  Empire,  the 
world  itself  furnished  no  refuge.  In  Gaul,  in  Egypt, 
or  in  Persia,  the  grasp  of  the  law  was  upon  him,  and 
the  might  of  Roman  justice  seemed  to  possess  ubiquity. 
Should  he  flee  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  even 
there  its  hand  would  seize  him  and  its  right  hand  hold 
him.  Wherever  he  went  she  claimed  him  as  her  citi- 
zen, and  he  was  within  the  reach  of  her  power.  He 
could  not,  as  in  this  day,  flee  from  the  land  in  which 
his  crime  was  committed,  and  then  feel  that  he  could 


FELLOWSHIP.  Y5 

laugli  at  the  arm  of  justice,  for  it  would  be  paralyzed 
were  it  to  stretch  beyond  the  frontier. 

And  thus  it  was,  in  some  degree,  in  the  Church. 
For  the  heretic  or  the  offender  there  was  no  spiritual 
home  in  Christendom.  When,  for  instance,  excommu- 
nicated from  the  Church  of  Antioch  or  Damascus,  he 
could  not  find  admission  even  into  those  of  Western 
Europe,  where  men  spoke  a  different  tongue,  for  with- 
out the  commendatory  letters  of  his  Bishop  he  could 
gain  no  entrance  into  any  other  fold.  With  what  pow- 
ers, then,  were  the  censures  of  the  Church  armed, 
when  he  who  was  subjected  to  them  was  thrown  at  once 
beyond  the  pale  of  Christendom,  and  driven,  as  it  were, 
into  heathenism  !  For  him  there  was  no  longer  a  Gos- 
pel or  an  altar.  There  were  no  promises  to  cheer  him 
during  life,  no  Holy  Offices  to  wait  upon  his  last  mo- 
ments, no  consecrated  burial  to  commit  his  remains  to 
the  dust.  His  only  choice  was  between  this  One  Church 
which  stood  before  him  in  all  her  grandeur,  and  the 
total  absence  of  every  religious  privilege.  St.  Cyprian, 
in  his  day,  wrote,  not  as  a  matter  of  controversy,  but  as 
an  acknowledged  truth,  "  Whoever  he  may  be,  and 
whatever  he  may  be,  he  who  is  not  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  not  a  Christian."  *  And  again,  "  If  any  one 
could  escape  who  was  outside  the  Ark  of  ISToah,  then 
he  also  may  escape  who  is  outside  of  the  Church."  ^ 

A  striking  instance  of  this  discipline  is  related  by 
the  historian  Gibbon.  Under  the  reign  of  the  younger 
Theodosius,  Synesius  filled  the  Episcopal  seat  of  Ptole- 
mais,  near  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Cyrene.  The  civil 
ruler  was  Andronicus,  "  the  monster  of  Libya,  who 

*  Epist.  li.  2  Cj-prian,  on  "  Unity  of  the  Church." 


76  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES,     ; 

abused  the  autliority  of  a  venal  office,  invented  new 
modes  of  rapine  and  torture,  and  aggravated  the  guilt 
of  oppression  by  that  of  sacrilege.  After  a  fruitless 
attempt  to  reclaim  the  haughty  magistrate  by  mild  and 
religious  admonition,  Synesius  proceeds  to  inflict  the 
]ast  sentence  of  ecclesiastical  justice,  which  devotes 
Andronicus,  with  his  associates  and  their  families,  to 
the  abhorrence  of  earth  and  heaven.  The  impenitent 
sinners  are  deprived  of  the  name  and  privileges  of 
Christians,  of  the  participation  of  the  sacraments,  and 
of  the  hope  of  Paradise.  The  Bishop  exhorts  the 
clergy,  the  magistrates,  and  the  people,  to  renounce 
all  society  with  the  enemies  of  Christ,  to  exclude  them 
from  their  houses  and  tables,  and  to  refuse  them  the 
common  offices  of  life  and  the  decent  rites  of  burial. 
The  Church  of  Ptolemais,  obscure  and  contemptible  as 
she  may  appear,  addresses  this  declaration  to  all  her 
sister  Churches  of  the  world ;  and  the  profane  who  re- 
ject her  decrees  will  be  involved  in  the  guilt  and  pun- 
ishment of  Andronicus  and  his  impious  followers."  * 

And  this  interdict  was  not  in  vain.  The  Christian 
Church  everywhere  received  it,  and  Andronicus  was 
obliged  in  penitence  to  implore  the  mercy  of  the  Church 
and  submit  to  her  authority. 

It  is  to  this,  then,  we  must  ascribe  the  Church's  power 
of  discipline,  when  years  of  penitence  and  self-denial  were 
willingly  endm-ed  at  her  command,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Milan  could  keep  even  the  Emperor  Theodosius  a  sup- 
pliant for  admission  at  the  Church's  door,  and  not  receive 
him  till  a  long  probation  had  testified  to  his  repentance.' 

'  Gibbon's  "  History,"  chap.  xx. 

s  Thcodoret's  "Eccl.  Hist.,"  Ub.  v.,  cbap.  18. 


FELLOWSHIP,  77 


But  liow  could  tills  be  done  now,  when  the  Church 
is  surrounded  by  jealous  and  discordant  communities, 
each  ready  to  welcome  a  proselyte,  while  he  himself, 
as  he  takes  refuge  in  their  fold,  feels  that  he  still  bears 
the  name  of  Christian,  and  therefore  calms  his  fears, 
and  derides  the  censures  which  should  have  humbled 
him  into  penitence  ?  The  discipline  of  the  Church, 
therefore,  is  now  confined  to  those  who  voluntarily  re- 
main within  her  fold. 

Again,  another  consideration  was,  the  certainty  of 
the  faith.  In  those  ancient  days  of  unity,  as  the  Chris- 
tian set  out  in  life,  he  had  no  doubts  as  to  the  faith  he 
should  adopt.  On  the  one  side  was,  the  world  of  hea- 
thenism— on  the  other,  Christianity  was  represented  by 
the  One  Church  ever  before  him,  sanctioned  by  apos- 
tles, and  martyrs,  and  confessors,  and  he  had  only  to 
remain  subject  to  her  teaching.  The  past  arrayed  be- 
fore him  a  mighty  company  of  the  holy  dead  who  had 
held  these  doctrines  ;  their  graves  were  about  him,  and 
the  fragi-ance  of  their  holiness  still  lingered  in  the 
Church  where  they  had  worshiped.  He  realized,  there- 
fore, that  he  had  "  come  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,"  and  he  would  cleave  to  the  faith  which  upheld 
them  in  their  mortal  day.  He  not  only  felt  it  would 
be  wronging  their  sacred  memory  to  abandon  the  in- 
heritance they  had  bequeathed  to  him,  but  he  knew 
that  if  he  went  out  from  the  Church  he  must  become 
an  alien  and  a  stranger.  "VVhither  could  he  go,  for  she 
only  had  the  words  of  eternal  life  ?  In  the  bosom  of 
the  Church  alone  could  he  realize  the  calm  feeling  of 
home,  for  she  only  bore  the  Christian  name.  There 
was  nothing,  therefore,  to  distract  the  mind.    The  great 


Y8  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

principles  of  the  faith  were  commended  to  him  by  the 
example  of  the  holy  saints  who  had  gone,  and  of  the 
mighty  multitude  of  the  living  who  were  gathered  into 
the  fold.  Xo  discordant  voices  perplexed  him  ;  no 
siren  tones  lured  him  into  error ;  but  he  passed  along 
through  life  with  the  path  plainly  marked  before  him. 
His  days  glided  quietly  and  soberly  on  in  the  infolding 
anns  of  his  spiritual  mother,  till  at  last  ho  went  to 
dwell  with  his  Lord  in  the  perfect  bliss  of  the  Church 
triumphant. 

And  such,  too,  were  his  feelings  wherever  he  wan- 
dered over  the  earth.  Touching,  indeed,  was  the  illus- 
tration given  of  this  by  a  Venetian  traveler  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  when  in  one  of  the  cities  of  distant 
England  he  met  a  funeral  train :  "  There  was  nothing 
new  or  strange,  or  singular,  about  the  burial  procession, 
particularly  calculated  to  excite  the  attention  of  Marco 
Polo.  The  De  Profundia  of  the  stoled  priest  spake 
the  universal  language  adopted  by  the  most  sublime  of 
human  compositions,  the  Liturgy  of  Western  Christen- 
dom. Yet,  though  no  objects  appeared  which  could 
awaken  any  lively  curiosity  in  the  traveler,  there  was 
much  in  their  familiarity  to  excite  the  sympathy  of  a 
wanderer  in  a  foreign  land.  With  an  altered  tone  he 
said  to  the  friar :  *  Saddened  is  the  spirit  of  the  pilgrim, 
by  the  dying  twilight  and  the  plaining  Vesper-bell. 
But  he  who  braves  every  danger  for  himself  may  feel 
his  heart  sink  within  him  w^hen  the  pageant  of  tri- 
umphant death  brings  to  his  mind  the  thought  that 
those  for  whom,  as  he  weened,  he  parted  for  a  little 
time  only,  may  have  been  already  borne  to  the  sep- 
ulchre.    Yet  there  is  also  a  great  and  enduring  comfort 


FELLOWSHIP.  79 


to  the  traveler  in  Christendom.  However  uncouth 
may  be  the  speech  of  the  races  among  whom  the  pil- 
grim sojourns,  however  diversified  may  be  the  customs 
of  the  regions  which  he  visits,  let  him  enter  the  portal 
of  the  Church,  or  hear,  as  I  do  now,  the  voice  of  the 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  he  is  present  with  his  own, 
though  Alps  and  oceans  may  sever  them  asunder.  There 
is  one  spot  where  the  pilgrim  always  finds  his  home. 
We  are  all  one  people  when  we  come  before  the  Altar 
of  the  Lord.'  "  ' 

In  a  later  age,  indeed,  until  this  Unity  was  broken, 
the  Religious  Houses  which  were  scattered  through 
Europe  kept  alive  this  feeling  of  fellowship  in  the 
mind  of  the  wanderer  from  distant  lands.  "  The  trav- 
eler rose  with  the  Religious  men,  beneath  whose  roof 
he  had  found  shelter  for  the  night;  with  them  he 
sought,  first  of  all,  the  House,  oftentimes  the  Altar  of 
God,  and  joined  in  the  Matin  Service  of  the  Western 
Church.-'  He  went  forward  on  his  road  with  prayer  and 
benediction.  Frosperum  itur  was  the  kindly  monks' 
farewell.  And  from  field,  and  brook,  and  bush,  the 
salutation  still  for  miles  came  forth,  haunting  his  ear, 
Procedas  in  pace,  in  nomine  Domini!  A  cloud  of 
good  wishes  accompanied  and  guarded  him  from  mon- 
astery to  monastery,  while  the  Courts  of  Bishops  and 
the  cloisters  of  learned  men  were  opened  to  him,  by 
the  commendatory  letters  of  his  native  prelates.  .  .  . 
There  were  a  hundred  little  needs,  interesting  the  af- 
fections and  laying  hold  on  the  imagination,  which  we 
remember,  and  with  fond  envy  many  times  recapitulate, 
satisfied  to  the  full  for  those  who  traveled  in  Christen- 

*  Sir  Francis  Piilgrave's  *'  Merchant  and  Friar,"  p.  138. 


80  TUB  CIIURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

dom  when  at  unity  with  itself,  but  now  utterly  unsatis- 
fied for  modern  wanderers,  amid  the  jealous  and  dis- 
jointed Churches.  The  traveler  of  those  times  was  sure 
of  a  home  for  Easter  or  Whitsuntide ;  the  continual 
haunting  of  sacred  places  was,  as  it  were,  a  safeguard 
against  the  fresh  shapes  and  daily- transformed  tempta- 
tions of  sin,  to  which  a  traveler  is  exposed  ;  he  had  holy 
Houses  everywhere,  as  refuges  in  times  of  weariness  or 
pestilence,  and  a  certainty,  in  case  death  should  inter- 
cept him,  of  a  consecrated  resting-place  among  the  Chris- 
tian dead,  when  he  had  passed  through  the  narrow  gate, 
aided  by  the  offices  and  absolutions  of  the  Church."  * 

But  how  different  is  now  the  picture  since  this 
Unity  has  been  swept  away !  IIow  sad  the  contrast 
given  by  a  living  poet,  as  he  portrays  the  feelings  of 
an  English  Churchman  visiting  Spain  ! — 

"  Before  the  shrine  of  some  blest  saint, 

While  loud  the  organ  peals, 
In  unsuspecting  faith  and  love 

Each  Spanish  maiden  kneels. 
Three  Sundays  now  have  passed  since  wo 

On  Spanish  land  first  trod  ; 
And  never  have  1  dared  to  seek 

The  presence  of  my  God. 
My  fainting  soul  in  solitude 

Seeks  for  relief  in  vain : 
Blue  hills,  and  glorious  bright  green  tijiugs, 

Do  but  augment  ray  pain. 
1  seem,  'mid  sighs  and  sounds  of  prayer, 

That  o'er  these  mountains  swell, 
To  be — it  is  a  fearful  thought — 

An  outward  infidel."  ^ 

'  Faber's  "Foreign  Churches  and  Peoples,"  p.  13. 
^  Lord  John  Mauuors's  *'  Outcast." 


FELLOWSHIP.  81 


The  traveler  finds,  too,  tliat  the  general  name  of 
Christian  is  not  sufficient  to  win  the  confidence  of  those 
among  whom  he  sojourns,  and  the  inquirer  is  forced  to 
listen  to  a  hundred  warring  Creeds  which  claim  his  at- 
tention, until  he  asks  in  despair :  "  What  is  truth  ? " 
He  knows  not  which  way  to  turn  or  on  what  to  rest. 
Thousands  of  dissenting  voices  are  around  him,  and/ 
"after  the  way  which  they  call  heresy,"  he  is  obliged 
to  "worship  the  God  of  his  fathers."  Thus,  life  is 
often  passed  in  a  state  of  uncertainty  as  to  whether  or 
not  he  has  embraced  the  right,  or,  what  is  worse,  his 
judgment  becomes  warped,  and  he  is  enlisted  in  a  war- 
fare against  the  truth,  because  he  believes  it  to  be  false- 
hood. Deep  and  lasting  is  the  perversion  to  his  mind 
from  thus  imbibing  delusion  and  error ;  and  at  last,  per- 
haps, he  is  led  into  an  involuntary  apostasy,  by  which 
he  inflicts  a  grave  injury  upon  his  moral  being.  Of 
how  many  is  this  the  unfortunate  history  !  How  sad 
the  contrast  to  those  earlier  days,  when  the  faithful 
everywhere  realized  that  God  had  "  knit  together  His 
elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship,  in  the  mystical 
body  of  His  Son  Christ  our  Lord ! " 

We  will  look  at  one  more  argument  in  behalf  of 
this  Unity — the  impression  the  Church  was  thus  enabled 
to  make  upon  the  world.  Why  is  it  that  the  Church, 
in  former  ages,  did  so  much  more  to  Christianize  the 
world  than  it  is  now  doing  ?  It  is  because  then  it  pre- 
sented itself  before  men  as  one  body,  and  therefore 
there  was  unity  of  action.  Now,  its  efforts  are  desul- 
tory and  feeble,  when  put  forth  by  disjointed  and  rival 
communities.  Then,  there  was  but  one  Spirit  animat- 
ing all.     Wherever  there  was  an  individual  who  bore 


82  THE  CnURCII  OF  TEE  APOSTLES. 

the  Christian  name,  he  felt  he  was  no  solitary  comba- 
tant. He  was  acting  in  concert  with  his  brethren 
through  the  wide  world,  and  the  Christians  on  the 
Western  shore  of  Europe  and  on  the  distant  coast  of 
India  rejoiced  together  in  every  advantage  gained  by 
the  Cross. 

The  very  spectacle  they  presented  to  the  heathen 
was  an  imposing  one.  They  saw  the  Christian  Church 
gathered  as  one  body  out  of  all  nations,  bound  together 
by  one  spirit,  and  living  in  one  endm-ing  fellowship. 
Earthly  kingdoms  were  ever  at  war,  and  committed  in 
deadly  strife  with  each  other.  One  was  crushed  by  the 
weight  of  a  mightier  kingdom,  and  others  rent  asunder 
by  internal  convulsions.  But  the  Church  gave  to  the 
world  the  first  display  of  permanence  and  unity.  Man- 
kind stood  in  need  of  some  common  basis,  and  to  fur- 
nish this  was  one  Mission  of  the  Church.  It  presented 
before  them  the  one  choice  between  Christianity  and 
Paganism.  It  stood  alone  amid  the  countless  forms  of 
Idolatiy  and  Schools  of  Philosophy — "  a  great  visible 
phenomenon,  as  one  vast,  overspreading  shadow,  cast 
from  the  one  invisible  Mercy-seat,  in  the  shelter  of 
which  alone  there  was  salvation  for  mankind."  *  They 
had.to  receive  it  or  reject  it  as  a  whole,  to  be  Christians, 
or  have  no  part  or  lot  in  this  redemption.  If  they 
turned  away  from  it,  the  solemn  explanation  given  was, 
"  K  our  Gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost." 
So  it  was  the  Chiu-ch  passed  down  the  stream  of  time 
in  all  the  grandeur  of  its  Unity,  claiming  the  homage 
of  the  world,  enshrining  that  One  "  Kame  under  heaven 
given  among  men  whereby  they  must  be  saved." 

»  Manning  on  "  The  Unity  of  the  Church." 


FELLOWSHIP.  83 


We  might  ask,  By  wliom  were  tlie  miglitiest  tri- 
umphs of  the  faith  won  ?  Not  by  these  discordant  and 
changing  sects,  but  by  the  Apostolic  Church,  which, 
strong  in  its  divine  Unity,  went  forth  to  challenge  the 
control  of  man's  spiritual  interests.  Let  us  turn,  then, 
for  an  illustration,  to  the  cradle  of  our  faith,  and  see 
how  even  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  da}^, 
the  Church  in  that  region — that  Great  Oriental  Church, 
so  little  understood  by  us — ^has  gone  on,  figliting  hand- 
to-hand  with  every  opponent,  saying  to  the  East,  Give 
up !  and  to  the  West,  Keep  not  back ! 

"  Eastward,  from  the  Great  School  of  Edessa,  the 
envoys  of  Christianity  went  forth.  They  pitched  their 
tents  in  the  camps  of  the  wandering  Tartar ;  the  Lama 
of  Thibet  trembled  at  their  words ;  they  stood  in  the 
rice-fields  of  the  Punjaub,  and  taught  the  fishermen  by 
the  sea  of  Aral ;  they  struggled  through  the  vast  des- 
erts of  Mongolia  ;  the  memorable  inscription  of  Siganfii 
attests  their  victories  in  China ;  in  India  the  Zamorin 
himself  respected  their  spiritual  and  courted  their  tem- 
poral authority.  From  the  Black  Sea  to  the  Caspian, 
the  Monks  of  Etchmiadzine  girded  themselves  for  this 
holy  warfare ;  they  braved  alike  the  Pagan  and  the 
Fire- worshiper,  the  burning  sims  of  Tiflis,  and  the 
feverish  swamps  of  Imeritia ;  they  subjugated  the  bor- 
der-lands of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  planted  a  colony  half- 
way up  the  Great  Ararat. 

"  Southward,  Alexandria  sent  forth  another  army 
of  Missionaries.  Steering  through  the  trackless  deserts 
by  sun  and  stars,  they  preached  the  Gospel  as  far  as 
the  fountains  of  the  Nile,  and  planted  flourishing 
Churches  in  Nubia  and   Abyssinia.     Solitary  Monks 


84:  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ventured  farther  into  the  kingdom  of  Satan  ;  through 
the  savage  Gallas  thej  passed  to  Melinda  or  Zanguebar ; 
others,  committing  themselves  to  the  merchant-vessels, 
preached  the  way  of  salvation  to  Cape  Guardafui,  So- 
cotra,  and  distant  Ceylon.  Here  the  two  great  armies 
of  Christian  warriors  met,  having  embraced  a  quarter 
of  the  then  known  world  in  their  holy  circle. 

"  Northward,  latest  but  most  victoriously,  Constan- 
tinople sent  out  her  envoys;  Constantino  convinced 
Vladimir  by  the  Icon  of  the. last  judgment  of  the  *good 
to  those  at  the  right  hand,  the  woe  to  those  at  the 
left ; '  the  idol  Peroun  was  carried  by  the  Dnieper  to 
the  sea ;  farther  and  farther  the  pioneers  of  the  truth 
pushed  their  way ;  Moscow,  and  Kieff,  and  Vladimir, 
owned  their  Metropolitans ;  tribes  imknown  to  the 
ancients  received  spiritual  illumination.  Undeterred 
by  Sarmatian  forest  or  Qistioean  swamp,  the  soldiers  of 
the  Cross  went  on  conquering  and  to  conquer,  till  they 
stood  on  the  barbarous  shores  of  the  *  sluggish  sea.' 
Thence  their  holy  chivalry  bore  them  Eastward ;  over- 
leaping the  Ural  Moimtains,  they  forced  their  way  into 
Siberia ;  slowly  and  painfully  they  advanced  toward  the 
rising  sun,  preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Son  of 
Eighteousness  ;  at  Irkutsk,  and  Sitka,  and  Tomsk, 
after  centuries  of  warfare,  tliey  have  placed  a  Vicar  of 
Christ  for  the  feeding  of  Ilis  flock ;  and  thus,  on  the 
borders  of  Chinese  Tartary,  they  hailed  the  disciples  of 
the  early  teachers  that  went  forth  from  Edessa.  And, 
even  now,  missionary  zeal  has  not  abated.  On  the  un- 
known shores  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  a  band  of  faith- 
ful priests  have  sealed  with  their  labors  the  faith  they 


FELLOWSHIP.  85 


taught,  and  thus  have  raised  the  standard  of  the  East- 
ern Church  in  the  Western  World."  * 

How  noble  this  picture,  as  we  see  the  serried  and 
unbroken  ranks  of  the  Apostolic  Church  going  on  its 
course  of  triumph  !  But,  as  a  contrast,  let  us  look  at  a 
single  scene  which  is  often  witnessed.  The  Missionary 
of  the  Cross  goes  to  a  heathen  land,  and  calls  the  dwell- 
ers there  to  repentance.  But  he  finds  that  others  also 
of  a  different  name  are  preaching  there  a  different  Gos- 
pel, and  the  unlettered  savage  knows  not  whom  to  be- 
lieve. His  efforts,  therefore,  are  thwarted  by  one  who 
is  a  disciple  of  the  same  Master  with  himself.  It  was, 
therefore,  the  natural  answer  of  an  Indian  chief,  who 
had  listened  to  the  claims  of  these  conflicting  Creeds, 
"  First  settle  among  yourselves  what  is  right,  and  then 
I  will  determine  whether  to  receive  your  religion." 
The  energies  of  the  Christian  world  are,  therefore,  di- 
vided in  fruitless  efforts,  or,  what  is  worse,  their  weap- 
ons are  turned  against  each  other,  and  thus  "  the  Prince 
of  this  "World  "  still  triumphs  and  rejoices  over  a  divided 
and  powerless  Church. 

But  does  it  seem  to  any  of  our  readers  that  we  have 
made  of  too  much  importance  the  subject  of  Church 
Unity  1  So  thought  not  the  early  Christians  ;  and 
strange,  therefore,  in  the  ears  of  a  modern  Churchman 
would  sound  the  advice  which  St.  Augustine  gave  the 
teacher  of  his  day  to  guide  him  in  instructing  those 
ignorant  of  Christian  doctrine.  "  If,"  he  says,  "  the 
Catechumen  be  slow  of  understanding,  and  have  neither 
hearing  nor  heart  for  the  sweetness  of  truth,  he  must 
be  borne  with  tenderly,  and,  after  a  short  and  cursory 

'  Ncale's  "  Ilistory  of  the  Holy  Eastern  Church,"  Introduction,  3,  4. 


86  TEE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

statement  of  other  points,  those  things  which  are  chiefly 
necessary  are  to  be  inculcated  with  much  awe — such  as 
the  Vniti)  of  the  Catholic  Churchy  the  nature  of  tempta- 
tion, and  of  the  Christian  life,  by  reason  of  the  judg- 
ment to  come."  '  Thus  it  is  that  this  Early  Father 
treats  the  Unity  of  the  Church  as  one  of  the  first  princi- 
ples of  faith,  and,  if  it  sounds  strange  to  us,  it  is  because 
in  our  habits  of  thouglit  we  have  wandered  far  from  the 
tone  of  feeling  and  belief  which  prevailed  in  primitive 
times. 

And  St.  Cyprian,  in  his  Epistle  to  Cornelius,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  says  :  "  For  this,  my  brother,  we  espe- 
cially both  labor  after,  and  ought  to  labor  after,  to  be 
careful  to  maintain,  as  much  as  we  can,  the  Unity  de- 
livered by  the  Lord,  and  through  His  Apostles  to  us, 
their  successors,  and,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  to  gather  into 
the  Church  the  dispei-sed  and  wandering  sheep  which 
the  willful  faction  and  heretical  temptation  of  some  is 
separating  from  their  Mother."  ' 

But  still  it  is  this  Unity  which  links  together  in 
holy  fellowship  those  who  are  separated  by  far-distant 
ages.  The  living  have  an  interest  in  the  past  as  fully 
as  in  the  present.  The  long  record  of  departed  saints 
is  the  roll  of  the  treasures  of  the  Church,  and  it  is  pre- 
served to  animate  the  courage  of  those  who  after  them 
shall  be  called  to  "  fight  the  good  fight." 

In  that  familiar  story  of  the  Progress  of  the  Pilgrim 
to  the  Celestial  City,  he  tarried  for  a  night  by  the  way- 
side at  "  the  Palace  of  which  the  name  was  Beautiful." 
AVTien  morning  came,  they  told  him  "he  should  not 
depart  till  they  had  shown  him  the  rarities  of  that  place. 

'  St.  Augustine,  "  Do  Catccbis.  Rudibus,"  cap.  xiii.        '  Epis.  xlL 


FELLOWSHIP,  87 


And  first  they  led  him  into  the  study,  where  they 
showed  him  records  of  the  greatest  antiquity  ;  in  which 
they  showed  him  the  pedigree  of  the  Lord  of  the  Hill, 
that  He  was  the  Son  of  the  Ancient  of  days.  Here 
also  were  more  fully  recorded  the  acts  that  He  had 
done,  and  the  names  of  many  hundreds  that  He  had 
taken  into  His  service,  and  how  He  had  placed  them  in 
such  habitations  that  could  neither  by  length  of  days 
nor  decays  of  natm-e  be  dissolved.  Then  they  read  to 
him  some  of  the  worthy  acts  that  some  of  His  servants 
had  done ;  as  how  they  had  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of 
lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  lire,  escaped  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed 
valiant  in  light,  and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the 
aliens." 

Thus  he  saw  how  "  God,  at  sundry  times  and  in 
divers  manners,  spake  in  times  past  to  our  fathers,"  and, 
as  a  member  of  "  the  goodly  fellowship  "  of  those  for 
whom  all  these  marvels  were  shown,  the  Pilgrim  was 
armed  with  courage  to  sustain  him  when  he  passed 
through  the  Yalley  of  Humiliation. 

"We  learn  from  the  memoirs  of  the  sainted  Henry 
Martyn,  that,  on  his  voyage  to  his  missionary  field  in 
India,  when  eveiything  which  surrounded  him  was  un- 
congenial, and  with  no  living  voice  to  speak  words  of 
comfort  or  encouragement,  he  sustained  his  sinking 
spirit  by  reading  the  records  which  Milner,  in  his 
Church  History,  has  given  of  those  ancient  saints,  "  of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  He  writes  in  his 
Diary  :  "  I  love  to  converse,  as  it  were,  with  those  holy 
Bishops  and  Martyrs,  with  whom  I  hope,  through  grace. 


88  THE  CnURCn  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

to  spend  a  liappy  Eternity.  The  example  of  the  Chris- 
tian Saints  in  the  Early  Ages  has  been  a  source  of  sweet 
reflection  to  me.  The  holy  love  and  devout  meditations 
of  Augustine  and  Ambrose  I  delight  to  think  of.  Ko 
uninspired  sentence  ever  affected  me  so  much  as  that  of 
the  liistorian,  that  to  believe,  to  suffer,  and  to  love,  was 
the  primitive  taste."  * 

To  us,  then,  this  subject  bears  the  lesson  that,  while 
rejoicing  in  the  privilege  of  being  members  of  this  fold, 
we  should  seek  to  imbibe  more  of  its  spirit,  and,  amid 
the  distractions  of  the  world  without,  cleave  to  the 
Church  which  possesses  fellowship  with  the  Apostles, 
lifting  up  our  hearts  and  voices  to  God,  that  peace  may 
once  more  return  to  Ilis  chosen  flock,  and  the  time 
come  when  brethren  shall  no  more  "  fall  out  by  the 
way."  There  only  can  the  mind  have  rest  amid  the 
endless  tossings  of  an  unquiet  generation.  There  only 
"  in  quietness  and  confidence  can  be  our  strength."  In 
her  green  pastures  and  by  her  still  waters  we  shall  not 
need  to  hew  out  cisterns  for  ourselves."  And  even 
when  the  end  of  our  mortal  pilgrimage  comes,  we  shall 
not  leave  the  Church. 

"There  is  no  death ;  what  seems  so  is  transition; 
This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  El  jsian, 
Whoso  portal  wo  call  Death."  * 

The  souls  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks*  as  being 
"  under  the  altar  "  are  as  earnest  now  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Church  as  when  in  life  they  took  part  in  the  war- 

'  "  Memoirs  of  Ilcnry  Martyn,"  p.  127. 

«  Jer.  ii.  13.  ^  Longfellow.  •»  Rev.  vi.  9, 


FELLOWSHIP.  89 


fare.  More  deeply  than  ever  do  tliey  feel  their  union 
with  it  as  they  look  forward  to  the  ages  that  are  com- 
ing, and  anticipate  its  future  glory. 

And  thus  at  last  the  Judgment  comes,  and  the  Ce- 
lestial City  opens  its  golden  gates  and  the  righteous 
meet  in  one  holy  fellowship,  whose  Unity  shall  never  be 
broken — "the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the 
First-born,  whose  names  are  written  in  Heaven." 


III. 

EUCHARIST. 


*'  Sit  down  and  take  thy  fill  of  joy — 
At  God's  right  hand  a  bidden  guest ; 
Drink  of  the  cup  that  cannot  cloy — 
Eat  of  the  bread  that  cannot  waste." 

Christian  Year. 


III. 

EUCHAEIST. 

"  And  tliey  continued  steadfastly  in  the  breaking  of 
bread.''  As  we  read  these  words  of  the  Evangelist,  our 
thoughts  involuntarily  turn  back  to  the  institution  of 
this  rite — to  the  last  sad  night  when  our  Lord  was  be- 
trayed. In  that  "  upper  room  "  at  Jerusalem  was  gath- 
ered a  little  group,  to  partake  once  more  of  the  Passover 
with  their  Lord.  Within  the  walls  of  the  Holy  City 
were  almost  countless  thousands  who  had  come  up  to 
that  Festival,  and  now  in  gladness  were  partaking  of 
the  Feast  which  recalled  their  deliverance  from  the  iron 
bondage  of  Egypt.  Yet  with  the  little  band  of  the 
Disciples  it  was  not  so.  A  shadow  seemed  to  rest  upon 
them.  Sorrow  had  filled  their  hearts,  for  their  Lord 
declared  lie  was  about  to  leave  them,  and  what  could 
the  scattered  sheep  do  when  the  Shepherd  was  taken 
from  them  ? 

Perhaps  the  one  who  apparently  showed  least  emo- 
tion was  our  Lord  Himself.  To  Him  there  was  no  un- 
certainty in  the  future.  He  knew  perfectly  what  the 
coming  hours  were  to  bring  forth.  Looking  down  the 
vista  opening  before  Him,  He  saw  it  terminated  by  the 
Cross,  and  He  knew  it  was  not  "  possible  that  this  cup 
could  pass  from  Him."     He  spake,  therefore,  to  His 


94:  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

followers  of  His  approaching  fate  with  a  calm  and  un- 
alterable compos  ire,  which  must  have  impressed  their 
hearts  with  the  deepest  melancholy.  Yet  He  would 
not  leave  them  without  some  memorial  of  His  love,  and 
w^hat  more  appropriate  than  symbols  which  should  recall 
to  their  minds  those  terrible  sufferings  which,  though 
they  knew  it  not,  were  now  close  at  hand  ?  He  takes, 
therefore,  the  bread  before  Him  and  breaks  it,  as  sig- 
nificant of  the  breaking  of  His  body,  and  pours  out  the 
wine,  to  show  the  shedding  of  His  blood ;  and  as  He 
thus  institutes  that  significant  rite — the  most  hallowed 
and  solemn  in  the  Christian  Church — His  command  is, 
"  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

The  Festival  closed,  and  when  they  had  sung  the 
Jllllel — the  Psalm  always  used  on  this  occasion — the 
Master  went  forth  to  that  death  which  was  to  be  the 
pledge  of  the  world's  redemption.  Yet  His  parting 
words  had  been  too  deeply  impressed  upon  the  hearts 
of  His  followers  to  be  ever  forgotten.  As  soon,  then, 
as  the  infant  Church  had  been  organized — as  soon  as 
they  could  gather  once  more  into  one  assembly — when 
they  offered  prayers  to  their  newly-risen  Lord,  they 
never  failed,  at  the  same  time,  to  commemorate  His 
death  in  this  solemn  rite.  They  met — we  are  always 
told — "  for  prayer  and  the  breaking  of  bread."  It  is 
thus  that  this  rite  is  everywhere  mentioned  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  as  if  it  invariably  constituted  a  part  of 
their  Service.^  Except,  however,  in  one  single  instance, 
it  is  only  refeiTed  to  by  allusion  in  the  Scriptures.  To 
the  Corinthians  the  Apostle  gives  an  elaborate  discus- 
sion of  this  subject."     They  had  perverted  it  into  a  com- 

'  Acts  ii.  42,  4G ;  xx.  7.  »  1  Cor.  xi. 


EUCHARIST.  95 


mon  feast,  and  St.  Paul,  therefore,  reproves  them,  and 
states  its  sacred  origin  and  import,  and  bids  them  keep 
it  as  a  holy  Festival  to  the  Lord. 

Passing,  then,  from  the  Sacred  Yolume,  we  will 
turn  to  the  records  of  Ecclesiastical  writers  in  the  next 
age,  that  we  may  see  the  manner  in  which  they  re- 
garded it. 

We  begin  with  an  account  by  Justin  Martyr,  in  the 
second  century,  of  the  form  in  which  this  rite  was  then 
administered,  and  we  quote  his  own  words,  that  our 
readers  may  hear  this  early  Christian,  who  afterward 
poured  out  his  blood  in  martyrdom  rather  than  sacrifice 
to  idols,  describe  for  himself  the  scene  he  so  often  wit- 
nessed : 

"  After  baptism,"  he  says,  "  we  lead  him  who  hath 
expressed  his  conviction  and  professed  the  faith,  to  the 
brethren,  where  they  are  gathered  together,  to  make 
common  prayers  with  great  earnestness,  both  for  them- 
selves and  for  him  who  is  now  illuminated,  and  for  all 
others  in  all  places,  that  having  learned  the  truth,  we 
may  be  deemed  worthy  to  be  found  men  of  godly  con- 
versation in  our  lives,  and  to  keep  the  commandments, 
that  so  we  may  attain  to  eternal  salvation.  When  we 
have  finished  our  prayers  we  salute  one  another  with  a 
kiss,  after  which  there  is  brought  to  the  brother  who 
presides  bread  and  a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with  water, 
and  he,  having  received  them,  gives  praise  and  glory  to 
the  Father  of  all  things,  through  the  name  of  the  Son 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  gives  thanks  in  many  words 
for  that  God  hath  vouchsafed  to  them  these  things  ;  and 
when  he  hath  finished  his  praises  and  thanksgivings, 
all  the  people  who  are  present  express   their  assent. 


96  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

sajing  Amen,  which  means  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  '  So 
be  it.' 

"  lie  who  presides  having  given  thanks,  and  the 
people  having  expressed  their  assent,  those  whom  we 
call  *  deacons '  give  to  each  of  those  who  are  present  a 
portion  of  the  bread  which  hath  been  blessed,  and  of 
the  wine  mixed  with  water,  and  carry  some  away  for 
those  who  are  absent ;  and  tliis  food  is  called  by  us  the 
Eucharist  (thanksgiving),  of  which  no  one  may  partake 
unless  he  believes  that  what  we  teach  is  true,  and  is 
washed  in  the  Laver,  which  is  appointed  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  and  unto  regeneration,  and  lives  in  such  a 
manner  as  Clirist  commanded. 

"  For  we  receive  not  these  elements  as  common 
bread  or  common  drink.  .  .  .  These  solemnities  being 
finished,  we  afterward  continually  remind  one  another 
of  them,  and  such  of  us  as  have  possessions  assist  all 
those  who  are  in  want ;  and  we  all  associate  one  with 
another,  and  amid  all  our  sufferings  we  bless  the  Creator 
of  all  things,  through  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  and  through 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  And  on  the  day  which  is  called  Sunday  there  is 
an  assembly  in  one  place  of  all  who  dwell  either  in 
towns  or  in  the  country,  and  the  lives  of  the  Apostles 
or  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  the 
time  permits ;  then,  when  the  reader  hath  ceased,  the 
head  of  the  congregation  delivers  a  discourse,  in  which 
he  reminds  and  exhorts  them  to  the  imitation  of  all 
these  good  things.  We  then  all  stand  up  together  and 
offer  up  prayers ;  then,  as  we  have  already  said,  when 
we  cease  from  prayer  bread  is  brought,  and  wine  and 
water,  and  our  head,  in  like  manner,  offers  up  prayers 


EUCHARIST,  97 


and  praises  with  all  the  earnestness  in  his  power  ;  and 
the  people  express  their  assent  by  saying  *  Amen.'  The 
consecrated  elements  are  then  distributed  and  received 
by  every  one,  and  a  portion  is  sent  by  the  deacons  to 
those  who  are  absent. 

"  Each  of  these  also  who  have  abundance,  and  are 
willing,  according  to  his  choice,  gives  what  he  thinks 
fit ;  and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with  him  who 
presides,  who  succors  the  fatherless  and  the  widows, 
and  those  who  are  in  need  from  sickness  or  any  other 
cause  ;  those  also  who  are  in  bonds,  and  the  strangers 
who  are  sojourning  among  us,  and,  in  a  word,  takes 
care  of  all  who  are  in  want. 

"  We  all  of  us  assemble  together  on  Sunday,  because 
it  is  the  first  day  in  which  God  changed  darkness  and 
matter  and  made  the  world.  On  the  same  day  also 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead."  ^ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  explanation  of  some  of 
the  rites  of  the  faitli  being  written  for  heathen  readers, 
Justin  Martyr  seems  studiously  to  have  avoided  ecclesi- 
astical words  and  titles,  which  he  might  have  used  if 
writing  to  his  own  brethren,  by  whom  they  would  be 
understood.  We  learn,  however,  from  the  passage  we 
have  quoted,  what  was  the  nature  of  the  Service  by 
which  in  that  day  this  rite  was  celebrated. 

We  can  imagine  the  scene,  when  the  faithful  in  the 
midst  of  trials  and  persecutions  had  gathered  in  their 
assembly,  thus  in  secrecy  to  eat  the  bread  of  life  and  to 
mingle  the  water  of  life  with  bitter  tears.  They  had 
solved  the  enigma  of  the  grave,  and  discovered  that 
immortality  for  which  the  soul  is  ever  yearning.     And 

'Justin,  "Apol.,"  2. 
5 


98  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

now  they  were  sacrificing  everything  in  this  world  for 
the  sake  of  that  world  of  which  they  had  so  lately 
heard.  As  pilgrims  they  were  ready  to  depart  to  the 
farthest  confines  of  the  earth,  if  new  reahns  might  be 
won  to  their  Lord.  The  fire  and  the  sword  were  week- 
ly thinning  their  ranks,  and  the  survivors  were  in  jeop- 
ardy every  hour,  realizing  that  they  were  "  baptized  for 
the  dead,"  and  not  knowing  when  they  should  be  called 
to  seal  their  profession  with  their  blood.  To  them, 
then,  each  recurrence  of  this  rite  must  have  been  in- 
vested with  a  solemnity  which  they  can  scarcely  realize, 
whose  lot  is  to  dwell  in  peace  by  the  still  waters  and 
iu  the  green  pastures. 

And  now,  let  us  look  at  the  frequency  with  which 
the  Holy  Communion  was  then  received.  We  have 
seen,  from  the  allusions  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
and  from  the  account  by  Justin  Martyr,  that  it  was,  in 
that  day,  always  a  part  of  public  worship ;  and  so  it 
continued  to  be  after  the  Apostles'  times.  Ignatius, 
the  disciple  of  St.  John,  exhorts  the  Ephesians  to  be 
"  diligent  in  assembling  frequently  to  celebrate  the 
Eucharist  *  and  glorify  God.  For  when  ye  often  meet 
together,  ye  dissolve  the  power  of  Satan,  and  the  har- 
mony of  your  faith  destroys  the  destniction  which  he 
meditates  against  you." ' 

In  the  same  centmy  Pliny,  the  Proconsul  of  Bithyn- 
ia,  who  was  contemporary  with  Ignatius,  on  the  confes- 
sion of  some  Christians  whom  he  examined,  writes 
home  to  Rome,  that*  "  they  were  accustomed  to  meet 
before  it  was  light,  by  reason  of  the  persecutions,  and 

*  Ignatius,  "  Epis.  to  Ephesians,"  13  (Bingham,  vi.,  906). 


EUCHARIST.  99 


there  they  sang  hymns  to  Christ  their  God,  and  bound 
themselves  by  a  sacrament  against  the  commission  of 
every  kind  of  wickedness."  ^ 

And  one  of  the  Apostolical  Canons  prescribes,  ''  If 
any  of  the  faithful  come  to  Church  to  hear  the  Script- 
ures read,  and  stay  not  to  join  in  the  prayfers  and  re- 
ceive the  Communion,  let  them  be  excommunicated  as 
the  authors  of  disorder  in  the  Church."  And  the  next 
Canon  repeats  the  same  with  reference  particularly  to 
the  clergy :  "  If  any  Bishop,  Presbyter,  or  Deacon,  or 
any  other  of  the  clergy,  does  not  communicate  w^hen 
the  Oblation  is  offered,  let  him  show  cause  why  he  does 
not,  that  if  it  be  a  reasonable  cause  he  may  be  excused ; 
but  if  he  show  no  cause,  let  him  be  excommimicated, 
as  giving  scandal  to  the  people  and  raising  suspicion 
against  him  that  offers."  ' 

The  Early  Fathers,  indeed,  speak  everywhere  of  the 
Communion  being  received  on  each  Lord's-day,  as  a 
custom  w^hicli  was  universal.  So  much  was  this  the 
case,  we  learn  from  St.  Chrysostom,  that  Sunday  was 
anciently  called  "  the  Day  of  Bread  "  {Dies  Panis),  be- 
cause the  breaking  of  bread  was  so  invariably  the  cus- 
tom of  Christians  on  that  day.' 

But  it  was  not  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  only 
that  this  rite  was  administered.  Those  were  days  when 
religion  was  not  confined  to  Sundays  and  Churches,  but 
went  with  them  through  the  week,  influencing  men 
everywhere  and  at  all  times.  Tertullian  says  that  in 
his  time  they  not  only  received  the  Eucharist  on  Sun- 
days in  their  morning  assemblies  before  day,  but  also 

»  riiny,  lib.  x,,  Epis.  97.  ^  ''Can.  Apost.,"  8  and  9. 

3  Chrysostom,  Horn.  5,  "Dc  Resur." 


100  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

at  other  times,  on  other  days,  particularly  on  the  anni- 
versary festivals  of  the  martyrs,  and  the  fifty  days  be- 
tween Easter  and  Pentecost,  which  were  but  one  con- 
tinued festival,  but  also  on  the  Wednesdays  and  Fridays 
in  every  week  throughout  the  year/ 

He  says  expressly  of  those  two  days,  that  they  were 
always  observed  by  receiving  the  Eucharist ;  for,  when 
some  scrupled  to  receive  it  on  those  days,  because  they 
were  fast-days,  and  they  would  thus  break  their  fast, 
he  takes  away  this  objection  by  telling  them  that  their 
receiving  the  Eucharist,  so  far  from  breaking  their  fast, 
would  the  more  recommend  them  to  God,  and  by  doing 
this  they  would  perfectly  perfonn  both  duties  together.' 

St.  Basil  agrees  with  Tertullian  in  making  these 
days  not  only  fast-days,  but  days  of  Communion  ;  and 
in  reckoning  four  days  of  the  week  in  which  they  re- 
ceived the  Communion,  he  counts  Wednesdays  and  Fri- 
days, Saturdays  and  Sundays.' 

In  some  places,  we  are  informed,  they  received  the 
Communion  every  day.  "  Thus,"  St.  Augustine  says, 
"  the  Sacrament  of  His  Body,  the  Church,  and  its 
unity,  is  in  some  places  prepared  and  taken  every  day 
at  the  Lord's  table.*'  *  In  the  Church  of  Carthage  this 
seems  to  have  been  the  case  at  a  very  early  day  ;  there- 
fore, St.  Cyprian  tells  us,  "  He  gives  this  as  one  sense 
of  that  petition  in  our  Lord's  Prayer,  *  Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread,'  as  if  it  might  be  understood  in  the 
spiritual  sense,  as  well  as  in  the  natural,  as  a  petition 
to  be  daily  fed  with  the  flesh  of  Christ  m  the  Eucha- 
rist, which  was  the  bread  of  life."  * 

»  Tertullian,  <'De  Coron.  Mil.,"  chap.  3.  *  Bingham,  vi.,  908. 

'  Basil,  Epis.  219.        *  Bingham,  vi.,  910.        ^  Cyprian,  Epi.^.  xxxvi. 


EUCnARIST.  101 


We  do  not  believe,  indeed,  that  this  was  the  general 
custom  of  the  Church.  When  this  rite  was  daily  ad- 
ministered, it  seems  to  have  been  in  times  of  persecu- 
tion, w^hen  they  were  in  constant  danger  of  martyrdom. 
Thus,  in  another  passage,  St.  Cyprian  exhorts  "  the  mar- 
tyrs to  prepare  themselves  for  the  fight  of  persecution, 
considering  that  they  therefore  drink  the  cup  of  Christ's 
blood  every  day,  that  they  may  be  able  to  shed  their 
blood  for  Christ."  And  a  little  after  he  says,  "  There- 
fore, let  that  hand  which  has  received  the  body  of  the 
Lord  embrace  the  Lord  Himself,  being  afterward  to  re- 
ceive the  reward  of  an  eternal  crown  from  the  Lord  in 
Heaven."  And  in  another  place  he  adds,  that  "the 
priests  who  celebrated  the  daily  sacrifices  of  God,  did 
also  prepare  the  martyrs  to  offer  themselves  as  victims 
and  oblations  unto  God." 

These  last  passages  may  give  an  explanation  of  the 
frequent  Communion  customary  at  some  times.  We  can- 
not, however,  in  any  way  enter  into  the  feelings  of  those 
who  were  then  called  to  wage  the  Christian  warfare ; 
but  in  that  age  of  martyrdom  they  felt  that  they  were 
ever  standing  on  the  brink  of  the  Infinite,  and  the 
morning  sun  which  rose  so  fair  to  their  view  might 
cast  its  declining  beams  upon  their  ashes,  as  the  wind 
wafted  them  from  the  stake.  The  hour  of  death  ap- 
peared not  to  them,  as  it  is  too  often  regarded  by  us,  as 
seen  through  the  vista  of  many  coming  years.  It  might 
be  just  at  hand,  and  therefore  they  endeavored  each 
day  to  be  cleansed  from  their  sins,  and  preparation 
made  for  their  solemn  change  ;  therefore,  St.  Ambrose 
says,  "  I  ought  always  to  receive  that  which  is  shed  for 
the  remission  of  sins,  that  my  sins  may  always  be  for- 


102  THE  CnURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

given  me :  I  that  ana  always  sinning  ought  always  to 
have  my  medicine  at  hand,  as  he  that  has  a  womid 
seeks  without  delay  for  a  cure."  ' 

There  was  one  custom  in  that  early  day  which 
showed  in  a  most  striking  manner  the  reverence  of  the 
Church  for  that  solemn  mystery ;  it  was  the  practice  of 
excluding,  even  from  a  sight  of  its  administration,  those 
who  were  catechumens  and  not  yet  prepared  to  receive 
it,  or  those  who  were  unworthy  to  do  so.  When  they 
were  ready  to  begin  this  portion  of  the  Service,  the 
deacon  made  solemn  proclamation:  "Ye  that  cannot 
communicate,  depart.  Let  no  catechumen  be  present, 
no  hearer,  no  infidel,  no  heretical  person." '  And 
among  the  homilies  of  St.  Chrysostom,  in  one  imputed 
to  Severianus,  Bishop  of  Gabala,  is  a  passage  which 
shows  the  part  of  the  Service  in  which  this  was  done  : 
"  Ye  have  seen  tlie  deacons  traversing  the  Church  and 
ciying,  *  Let  no  catechumen  be  present ;  none  of  those 
who  may  not  see  the  Heavenly  Blood  shed  for  remis- 
sion of  sins.'  Ye  remember  after  this  how  the  angels 
from  Heaven  sing  the  hymns  and  praises,  saying,  'Holy 
is  the  Father,  holy  is  the  Son,  holy  is  the  Holy  Ghost.' " ' 
From  which  it  is  evident  that  it  was  before  the  Trisa- 
gion,  "  Therefore  with  angels  and  archangels,"  etc.,  and 
preparatory  to  the  Oblation. 

We  can  imagine  that  this  exclusion  must  have 
heightened  the  reverence  of  those  who  were  thus  de- 
barred. With  what  veneration  must  they  have  thought 
of  those  sacred  emblems  upon  which  they  were  not 
esteemed  worthy  to  look  I   It  was  appealing  to  a  known 

'  Ambrose,  "  De  Sacrarn.,"  lib.  iv.,  chap.  6. 

'  Bingham,  lib.  xv.,  chap.  8.  '  Chrysostom,  lib.  vi.,  Horn.  37. 


EUCHARIST.  103 


principle  of  tlie  human  mind,  which  forces  it  to  invest 
with  a  higher  regard  anything  wliich  is  enveloped  in 
mystery.  And  St.  Augustine  tells  us  that  this  was 
done  ''  to  inflame  their  zeal,  and  make  them  more  ear- 
nest and  solicitous  in  hastening  to  partake  of  them."  It 
rendered  them  diligent  in  their  preparation  for  that 
hour  when  they  too  should  be  admitted  with  the  faith- 
ful to  their  Master's  feast.  They  reahzed  that  until 
then  they  were  only  "  Proselytes  of  the  Gate,"  dwell- 
ing in  the  outer  courts  of  the  sanctuary,  and  their  de- 
sire was  kindled  to  hear  the  voice  which  bade  them 
"  Come  up  hither  !  "  and  enabled  them  to  approach  the 
Altar  itself. 

But  what  a  solemnity  must  have  been  impressed 
upon  an  assembly  of  the  early  Christians  when  they 
had  gathered  for  this  rite  !  The  world,  with  its  carp- 
ing doubts  and  questionings,  was  excluded.  J^o  care- 
less and  irreverent  spectator  looked  upon  the  sacred 
mysteries,  but  the  faithful  and  the  believing  alone, 
with  one  heart  and  one  voice,  knelt  around  the  Altar. 
Their  very  nearness  to  the  time  of  the  solemn  sacrifice 
which  they  commemorated  added  to  its  impressiveness. 
They  were  not  separated  from  their  Lord  by  long  in- 
tervening centuries,  and  there  still  lingered  in  the 
Church  traditions  of  what  He  had  said  and  done,  and 
what  those  had  reported  who  had  seen  Him  in  the 
flesh;*    and  these  they  repeated  to  each  other  when 

*  The  only  traditional  saying  of  our  Lord  wliich  has  come  down  to  us 
and  is  not  quoted  in  the  histories  of  His  life,  is  that  given  by  St.  Paul  in 
his  address  to  the  elders  at  Miletus,  "  Remember  the  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive "  (Acts 
XX.  35). 


104  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

gathered  in  remembrance  of  Ilim.  No  gorgeous  cere- 
monies as  yet  adorned  that  rite — no  perversions  of  its 
primitive  meaning  had  yet  crept  into  the  Church  ;  but 
all  partook  of  it  with  the  same  simplicity  of  spirit  which 
had  marked  that  little  band  of  disciples  who  had  first 
gathered  in  an  "  upper  room  "  in  Jerusalem. 

As  centmies  rolled  by,  there  gradually  grew  up  a 
change  of  feeling  in  the  Church  with  regard  to  this 
sacrament.  At  first,  as  we  have  shown,  it  was  looked 
upon  with  a  shadowy  vagueness — as  an  inexplicable 
mystery,  and  this  was  often  the  very  characteristic 
which  so  deeply  impressed  the  minds  of  the  partici- 
pants. It  was  with  a  solemn  awe  that  they  came  for- 
ward to  receive  the  sacred  symbols  of  the  Crucifixion  ; 
it  was  the  central  point  of  the  service  ;  but  by  a  transi- 
tion so  gradual  that  it  was  almost  imperceptible,  they 
imparted  new  characteristics  to  the  elements,  and  con- 
centrated upon  the  Altar  that  feeling  of  veneration  for 
the  invisible  presence  of  the  Lord  which  the  early  wor- 
shipers felt  for  the  whole  Church.* 

And  this  seems  to  have  been  the  natural  result  of 
that  warmth  of  Oriental  eloquence  with  which  the 
preachers  of  the  faith  endeavored  to  illustrate  this  mys- 
tery. All  that  the  poetry  of  religion  could  inspire  in 
those  who  dwelt  near  the  cradle  of  our  faith,  or  the 
glowing  phrases  of  an  Eastern  tongue  could  frame  to 
set  forth  the  dignity  of  this  rite,  were  lavished  upon  it. 
"We  see  this  in  the  bold  imagery  of  St.  Chrysostom, 
when  he  appeals  to  his  hearers  in  Constantinople,  and 
uses,  as  figures  of  rhetoric,  illustrations  which  he  him- 
self never  intended  to  be  interpreted  by  the  strict  rules 

•  Milman's  "  Eccles.  Ilist.,"  ii.,  816. 


EUCHARIST.  105 


of  argument.  Perhaps  a  couple  of  passages  from  one 
of  his  homilies  may  convey  an  idea  of  his  style  to  our 
readers,  and  enable  them  to  see  how  dangerous  were 
such  glowing  pictures  when  placed  before  the  fervid 
imagination  of  Greeks  or  Asiatics : 

"When  you  see  this  body  before  you,"  says  the 
"  golden-mouth  "  preacher,  "  say  to  yourself,  this  is  the 
body  which  was  nailed  to  the  cross,  but  which  death 
could  not  confine.  It  was  this  which  the  sun  beheld 
3xed  to  the  accursed  tree,  and  instantly  veiled  his  light. 
It  was  this  that  rent  the  veil,  and  burst  the  rocks,  and 
convulsed  the  earth.  Do  you  wish  to  comprehend  the 
full  extent  of  its  powers  ?  Ask  the  daughter  of  afflic- 
tion, who  touched  the  hem  of  the  garment  that  encir- 
cled it.  Ask  the  sea  which  bore  this  body  on  its  sur- 
face. Ask  Satan  himself,  '  What  has  inflicted  on  thee 
this  incurable  wound  ?  What  has  robbed  thee  of  thy 
strength  ?  Whence  these  chains  and  this  captivity  ? ' 
He  will  answer,  that  this  crucified  body  is  the  foe 
that  hath  broken  his  weapons,  and  hath  bruised  his 
head,  and  hath  exposed  to  shame  and  defeat  the  princi- 
palities and  powers  of  his  kingdom.  Ask  Death,  and 
say  unto  him :  '  How  hast  thou  been  rifled  of  thy 
sting,  and  how  hath  thy  victory  been  wrested  from 
thee  ?  How  is  it  that  thou  hast  become  the  laughing- 
stock of  youths  and  maidens — thou  that  hast  been  the 
terror  both  of  the  ungodly  and  the  righteous  ? '  They 
will  both  answer  by  accusing  this  mysterious  body  of 
their  discomfiture  and  disgrace ;  for  when  this  body 
was  crucified,  then  the  dead  arose,  and  the  prison  of  the 
grave  was  burst  open,  and  the  tenants  of  the  tomb  were 
set  free,  and  the  wardens  of  hell  were  terror-stricken." 


lOG  TUB  CnURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

And  again,  in  another  place,  he  speaks  of  the  ele- 
ments still  more  strongly  :  "  Behold,  I  show  you,  not  an- 
gels, not  archangels,  nor  the  heaven  of  heavens,  but  the 
Master  of  all  these !  Behold,  the  most  precious  of  all 
things  is  exposed  to  your  gaze ;  and,  not  only  so,  but 
you  are  allowed  to  touch  it  and  to  handle  it ;  nay,  not 
merely  to  touch  it,  but  actually  to  feed  upon  it."  * 

But  the  evident  anxiety  to  avoid  any  view  of  this 
rite  which  might  lower  its  dignity,  necessarily  betrayed 
them  into  an  opposite  extreme.  "  Their  language  is 
frequently  such  as  to  identify  the  hallowed  elements 
with  the  sacrifice  they  represented.  "When  speaking 
with  didactic  caution,  they  would  indeed  carefully  sep- 
arate the  symbol  from  the  object  signified  ;  but  when 
endeavoring  to  elevate  the  devotion  of  their  hearers, 
they  often  forgot  this  watchfulness  and  discretion,  and 
expressed  themselves  in  terms  which,  frequently  re- 
peated, would  naturally  familiarize  the  hearers  with  the 
notion  that  the  body  of  our  Saviour  was  actually  and 
really  present  in  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine."  ' 

In  all  ages,  indeed,  under  every  form  of  faith,  the 
mind  turned  to  these  elements  with  an  awe  produced 
by  a  belief  in  the  invisible  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
this  the  devout,  through  the  whole  Church,  could  not 
but  feel.  But  this  mysterious  feeling,  reahzed  indeed 
by  the  mind,  was  one  which  it  would  have  been  very 
difficult  to  reduce  to  language.  It  was  something  widely 
different  from  the  acknowledgment  of  that  material  and 
corporeal  change  which  at  length  began  to  be  asserted. 
Yet  thus  it  was,  that  what  at  first  was  only  the  im- 

'  Chrysost.,  Ilom.  xxliii.,  Ed.  Bcncdic. 
2  Lc  lias's  "  Life  of  Wiclif." 


EUCEARIST.  .     107 


passioned  eloquence  of  tlie  preacher,  as  years  went  by, 
became  the  customary  language  of  the  pulpit,  and  grad- 
ually grew  to  be  the  settled  doctrine  of  the  Church.  It 
passed  even  beyond  the  sanction  given  by  Oriental 
metaphors,  and  "  that  which  the  earlier  Fathers,  in 
their  boldest  figure,  called  only  a  bloodless  sacrifice,  be- 
came at  last  an  actual  oblation  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ."  ' 

Thus  it  was  that,  from  the  mere  warmth  of  Oriental 
imagery,  and  the  pei'version  of  the  language  of  the  early 
writers,  there  grew  up  the  doctrine  of  Ti'ansubstantia- 
tlon,  or  the  corporeal  presence  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament — a  doctrine  which  has  now 
become  a  point  of  faith  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
which  forms  the  greatest  barrier  which  separates  us 
from  it.  Deeply  as  we  reverence  these  sacred  symbols 
of  our  Master's  death,  we  cannot,  as  they  do,  bow  in 
worship  before  them,  for  we  cannot  realize  that  they 
have  been  changed  into  our  Incarnate  Lord,  and  there- 
fore in  us  it  would  be  idolatry. 

We  have  thus  given  briefly  the  historical  account  of 
this  Sacrament,  showing  its  origin — the  manner  of  its 
administration  in  that  early  day — and  the  changes  it 
underwent,  as  the  superstition  of  men  gradually  per- 
verted it,  until,  instead  of  a  symbol  of  peace,  showing 
the  love  and  union  of  our  Lord's  followers,  it  has  be- 
come a  theme  of  contention,  dividing  those  who  shoald 
be  called  by  the  same  name,  and  debated  with  irrever- 
ent warmth  by  multitudes  who  might  better  copy  the 
example  of  the  Early  Christians,  and  meditate  and  wor- 
ship in  solemn  silence. 

»  Milmau's  "  Ecclea.  Hist.,"  ii.,  316. 


108  THE  CUURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

It  is  indeed  a  sorrowful  view  thus  to  trace  it  down 
the  stream  of  time — to  leave,  as  it  were,  the  atmosphere 
of  those  early  days,  when  all  was  simplicity  and  purity 
of  faith — and  to  pass  away  from  the  lirst  followers  of 
our  Lord,  men  who  were  raised  above  death,  and  could 
defy  the  darkness  of  the  grave,  realizing  that  what  to 
the  world  was  the  ending  of  every  hope,  to  the  Chris- 
tian was  but  the  opening  of  eternal  blessedness.  For 
each  century  that  we  descend,  we  find  a  deeper  shadow 
gathering  over  the  Church,  and  the  Sacraments  of  its 
early  day  sharing  in  the  perversion  which  had  affected 
every  part.  "  The  great  mysteries  of  religion  were 
hardened  and  distorted  by  a  gross  and  carnal  compre- 
hension of  them."  *  The  converts  of  primitive  times 
were  men  with  the  heroic  and  unbending  faith  of  mar- 
tyrs, yet  with  the  meekness  of  little  cliildren.  Their 
hearts  were  bound  together,  their  hopes  centred  in  the 
single  wish,  to  obtain  an  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  They  were  cheered  and  elevated  by  the  sub- 
lime doctrines  they  had  lately  learned  ;  they  had  freed 
their  minds  from  the  damps  and  shadows  of  the  sys- 
tems from  which  they  had  come  out ;  and  the  air  they 
breathed  seemed  that  of  the  Celestial  City.  To  them 
there  was  a  reality  in  this  Sacrament.  It  awakened 
memories  of  Calvary ;  it  bound  them  to  their  fellow- 
Christians;  it  pointed  them  forward  to  the  marriage- 
supper  of  the  Lamb,  of  which  they  should  one  day 
partake  with.IIim  in  Heaven. 

And  then,  when  centuries  of  superstition  had  clouded 
this  rite  and  perverted  it,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  its 
Primitive  meaning  that  our  Church  endeavored  to  revive. 

I  Bourdcn's  "  Life  of  Gregory  VII.,"  v.,  ii.,  p.  240. 


EUCHARIST.  109 


It  has  been  stripped,  therefore,  of  all  the  additions  which 
had  been  gathered  about  it ;  and  it  is  presented  to  its, 
as  it  was  to  the  Christians  of  the  first  century,  a  symbol 
of  our  Lord's  crucifixion,  and  a  means  of  grace  and 
spiritual  strength  which  He  has  designed  to  strengthen 
His  children's  hearts,  and  to  keep  them  in  remembrance 
of  Him  till  He  come  again. 

This  rite  then  connects  us  in  spirit  with  the  myriads 
of  our  Lord's  followers  who  have  gone  before  us ;  with 
the  holy  and  the  just  whose  names,  in  ages  past,  were 
written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.  Like  the  Early 
Christians,  then,  let  us  "continue  steadfastly  in  the 
breaking  of  bread."  To  us  everything  about  the  Sacra- 
ment of  our  Lord's  death  should  be  consoling.  It 
should  not  be  invested  with  the  gloom  with  which  so 
many  array  it.  It  is  not  like  that  Mount  about  which 
the  thousands  of  Israel  gathered  with  trembling ;  the 
Mount  that  "  burned  with  fire,"  whose  top  was  envel- 
oped in  "  blackness,  and  darkness,  and  tempest,"  and 
from  which  issued  thunders  and  voices  so  terrible,  that 
even  good  men  "  exceedingly  feared  and  quaked."  ^ 
Tliis  holy  ordinance  was  not  designed  to  be  a  fiery  or- 
deal, through  which  none  but  the  sinless  could  safely 
pass.  It  was  intended  for  the  edification  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  yea,  even  of  the  feeblest.  It  is  to 
strengthen  within  them  every  Christian  grace,  and  to 
be  to  them  a  channel  of  living  power  while,  like  the 
Magi  of  old,  they  are  passing  through  the  clouds  and 
darkness  of  earth  to  their  God  at  last. 

There  is,  indeed,  no  mysterious,  physical  efficacy  in 
the  mere  act  of  eating  that  consecrated  bread ;  and  yet, 

»  Ileb.  xii.  18. 


110  THE  CIIUECH  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

if  we  come  forward  with  proper  feelings,  with  "  honest 
and  good  hearts,"  our  spiritual  strength  will  be  in- 
creased, our  Christian  views  enlarged  and  purified,  and 
invigorated,  and  we  shall  find  that  for  a  time  we  have 
passed  away  from  the  strife  and  conflict  of  this  lower 
world,  and  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration, 
where  our  Lord  reveals  Himself,  and  glimpses  are  grant- 
ed to  us  of  that  world  of  joj,  where  we  shall  eat  of  the 
Tree  of  Life,  and  drink  of  those  bright  waters  which 
flow  from  the  thi'one  of  God  forever. 

And  when  the  dream  of  this  life  is  over,  and  hope 
has  given  place  to  full  fniition,  it  is  thus  that  Bunyan 
describes  the  reality  of  the  Pilgrim's  hopes: 

"  Now  I  saw  in  my  dream  that  they  went  in  at  the 
gate  of  the  Celestial  City,  and  lo !  as  they  entered,  they 
were  transfigured ;  and  they  had  raiment  put  on  that 
shone  like  gold.  There  were  also  that  met  them  with 
harps  and  crowns,  and  gave  them  to  them — the  harps  to 
praise  withal,  and  the  crowns  in  token  of  honor.  Then 
I  heard  in  my  dream  that  all  the  bells  in  the  city  rang 
again  for  joy,  and  that  it  was  said  unto  them,  '  Enter 
ye  in  to  the  joy  of  our  Lord.' 

"  I  also  heard  the  men  themselves,  that  they  sang 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  'Blessing  and  honor,  and 
glory  and  power,  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
Throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,  for  ever  and  ever.' 

"  Now,  just  as  the  gates  were  opened  to  l6t  in  the 
men,  I  looked  in  after  them,  and,  behold,  the  city  shone 
like  the  sun,  the  streets  also  were  paved  with  gold,  and 
in  them  walked  many  with  crowns  on  their  heads,  palms 
in  their  hands,  and  golden  harps  to  sing  praises  withal. 

"  There  were  also  of  them  that  had  wings,  and  they 


EUCHARIST. 


Ill 


answered   one   another  witliout 
'  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  ! ' 
shut  up  the  gates,  which,  when 
myself  among  tliem." 


intermission,  saying. 
And  after  that  they 
I  had  seen,  I  wished 


IV. 
LITUEGIES. 


"  Though  Babel's  curse  rests  on  the  world  forlorn, 
And  language,  clime,  and  heart  asunder  rends ; 
Yet  in  the  unfailing  Church,  by  age  unworn. 

Thy  blessing  still  is  fresh,  thou  Pentecostal  morn ! 
One  soul,  one  tongue  is  there ;  th'  Eternal  Son 
Dwells  in  her  living  courts,  forever  one." 

The  Cathedral 


IV. 
LITUEGIES. 

"VVrrii  the  early  Christian?,  living  under  the  awaken- 
ing impulse  of  their  new-born  hopes,  Time  was  noth- 
ing— Eternity  was  everything.  So  absorbed  were  they 
in  the  contemplation  of  a  future  world,  that  we  find  it 
was  necessary  for  their  teachers  to  recall  them  to  their 
daily  duties,  and  to  inculcate  the  lesson  that  this  life 
also  had  its  claims  upon  them.  They  felt  that  they 
stood  in  jeopardy  every  hour,  and  must  "die  daily." 
The  sands  of  the  amphitheatre  were  red  with  the  blood 
of  their  slaughtered  brethren,  and  often  they  were  forced 
to  gaze  upon  the  ruddy  glare  of  the  martyr's  fires,  in 
which  so  many  of  their  fellow-confessors  were  wafted 
up  to  Heaven.  Life  with  them,  therefore,  became 
valueless,  because  they  knew  that  its  light  must  soon 
vanish,  and  be  lost  in  the  brighter  glory  of  the  coming 
world.  Is  it  strange,  then,  that  thus  nursed  in  vicissi- 
tudes, and  beaten  by  the  rough  winds  of  life,  they  were 
bold  and  fervent — men  of  mailed  and  impervious  forti- 
tude, ready  to  defy  the  world,  prepared  for  torments 
and  armed  for  death  ? 

And  whence  could  they  derive  this  courage  but 
from  another  world  ?  To  it,  then,  they  constantly  as- 
pired, and  every  wish  and  hope  were  merged  in  the 


116  TUE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

single  desire  to  wage  well  their  warfare  here,  so  that 
the  J  might  win  the  prize  of  immortality.  To  them 
the  gates  of  Eternity  seemed  ever  open.  They  listened 
to  the  anthems  of  the  blessed,  and  shrank  with  trem- 
bling from  the  wailings  of  the  lost.  They  prayed  witli 
an  earnestness  which  brought  every  sense  into  unison 
with  the  heart-felt  petitions  rising  from  the  very  depths 
of  their  souls.  They  realized  the  chain  which  bound 
them  to  the  throne  of  the  Eternal.  It  was  to  them  a 
living  reality — and  therefore  "they  continued  stead- 
fastly in  prayer." 

We  see  from  the  Kew  Testament  record  how  un- 
ceasing was  the  intercourse  of  the  first  Christian  con- 
verts with  the  Saviour  who  had  lately  parted  from 
them  and  gone  into  Heaven ;  how  often  they  came  to 
that  mercy-seat,  to  which  they  had  just  learned  their 
right  of  access  through  the  sacrifice  of  their  risen  Lord. 
When  St.  Peter  returned  to  them,  miraculously  re- 
leased from  prison,  it  was  in  the  words  of  prayer  and 
praise  that  their  joy  found  utterance.  In  the  dungeon 
Paul  and  Silas  sang  praises  and  raised  the  voice  of 
prayer,  till  the  astonished  pnsoners  heard  them.  This 
became,  indeed,  the  characteristic  mark  of  the  Christian 
— the  trait  by  which  he  was  known — and  when,  there- 
fore, Saul  had  turned  to  the  faith,  and  a  vision  from 
God  informed  Ananias  of  the  change,  he  is  not  told 
directly  that  the  most  bitter  enemy  of  the  Christians 
had  himself  become  a  convert,  but  the  news  is  conveyed 
to  him  in  the  announcement,  "  Behold,  he  prayeth  I  " 

This  characteristic  did  not  expire  with  the  first  gen- 
eration of  Christians.  We  recognize  it  also  as  the  trait 
of  their  successors,  and  it  took  long  years  for  faith  to 


LITURGIES.  •  117 


grow  dim  and  zeal  to  be  quenched  before  tlie  spirit  of 
prayer  also  failed.  As  long  as  persecution  continued, 
and  they  were  obliged,  in  preaching  the  Gospel,  to  con- 
front a  dark  and  lowering  world  ;  so  long  as  their  testi- 
mony was  delivered  before  those  who  might  "  turn  again 
and  rend  them,"  they  felt  the  impotency  of  an  arm  of 
flesh,  and  looked  only  to  Heaven  for  aid  and  strength. 

In  some  cases  their  prayers  have  been  preserved  to 
us,  caught  as  they  fell  from  their  lips  in  the  hour  of 
suffering  and  death,  and  treasured  up  by  their  brethren 
as  a  precious  legacy — the  martyr's  last  bequest  to  those 
he  left  behind,  still  contending  in  the  struggle  of  this 
lower  world.  Such  was  the  prayer  of  the  martyr  Poly- 
carp,  the  disciple  of  St.  John,  as  he  was  bound  to  the 
stake.  Through  almost  eighteen  centuries  it  has  come 
down  to  us,  valuable  not  only  for  the  ardent  devotion 
which  breathes  through  every  sentence,  but  also  for  its 
testimony  to  truths  which  the  impiety  of  later  days  has 
called  in  question.  IIow  earnestly,  for  instance,  does 
he  recognize  the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  when  thus  he 
makes  his  appeal  to  the  Father  ! — 

"  Father  of  Thy  beloved  and  blessed  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  through  whom  we  have  received  the  knowledge 
of  Thee,  God  of  angels  and  powers,  and  of  all  the 
creation  and  of  all  the  generations  of  the  righteous  who 
live  in  Thy  presence,  I  bless  Thee,  because  Thou  hast 
thought  me  worthy  of  this  day  and  this  hour,  to  take 
part  in  the  number  of  Thy  martyrs,  in  the  cup  of 
Christ,  to  the  resurrection  of  soul  and  body  in  the  in- 
corruptible felicity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  among  whom 
may  I  be  received  this  day  into  Thy  presence,  as  a 
rich  and  acceptable  sacrifice,  as  Thou  hast  before  or- 


118  THE  CnURCE  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

dained  and  Last  now  fulfilled ;  Tliou,  who  art  the  faith- 
ful and  true  God.  For  this,  and  for  all  things,  I  praise 
Thee,  I  bless  Thee,  I  glorify  Thee,  through  the  Eternal 
Iligh-Priest  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  beloved  Son,  througli 
whom  be  glory  to  Thee,  with  Ilim,  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
both  now  and  unto  all  ages  to  come."  * 

But  it  is  to  the  more  public  and  stated  worship  of 
the  Christians  in  those  ages  that  we  would  particularly 
refer.  Of  the  prayers  they  offered  as  individuals  we 
can  know  but  little.  Then,  they  were  most  often  alone 
with  God,  and  when  they  wrestled  with  Him  in  the 
deep  agony  of  their  souls,  none  but  He  heard  them,  and 
it  was  left  for  their  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  to  re- 
ward them  openly.  But  of  their  public  and  common 
prayers  the  record  has  come  down  to  us,  preserving 
even  the  words  in  which  these  ancient  Christians  en- 
shrined their  petitions.  We  still  have  the  ancient  litur- 
gies, which  in  that  day  were  heard  in  every  church 
from  the  plains  of  India  to  the  shores  of  Western  Europe. 

Beginning  at  the  earliest  day,  we  can  see  by  allu- 
sions in  Scripture,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  in 
the  Epistles,  that  some  system  of  ritual  must  have  been 
established  in  the  Churches.  We  may  say  it  was  coeval 
with  the  organization  of  the  Church  itself.  We  can- 
not, of  course,  expect  plain  directions  on  these  points, 
for  the  Epistles  were  not  written  to  enforce  or  prescribe 
the  ritual  of  religion.  All  we  can  expect  is,  if  it  ex- 
isted in  the  Apostles'  days,  to  find  some  allusions  show- 
ing an  acquiescence  in  it.  In  most  cases  it  must  have 
rested  on  unwritten  directions  from  the  founders  of 
these  Churches.     Wlien,  for  instance,  St.  Paul  went 

»  Euscblus,  "Ecclcs.  Hist.,"  lib.  iv.,  chap.  15. 


LITURGIES.  110 


from  city  to  city,  and  everywliere  gatliered  congrega- 
tions into  the  infant  Churcli,  he  must  at  the  same  time 
have  given  them  some  system  of  worship  or  ritual.  Their 
very  existence  depended  on  their  having  this  to  take 
the  place  of  their  old  Jewish  or  heathen  rites ;  and  in 
the  next  generation  these  rules  rested  only  on  tradition. 

We  can  find,  indeed,  in  St.  Paul's  writings,  illustra- 
tions of  the  fact  that  there  were  traditions  of  Church 
regulations  and  customs  handed  down,  which  were  not 
prescribed  in  Scripture,  but  which  they  were  bound  to 
observe.  lie  writes  to  the  Thessalonians,  "  Therefore, 
brethren,  stand  fast,  and  hold  the  traditions  which  ye 
have  been  taught,  whether  by  word  or  our  Epistle."  ^ 
It  is  on  this  principle  that  he  settles  the  question  with 
the  Corinthians,  that  men  should  wear  their  hair  short, 
and  that  women  should  have  their  heads  covered  dur- 
ing divine  service.  Here  is  a  point  on  which  Scripture 
gives  no  direction,  but  the  Apostle  begins  by  implying 
that  it  was  one  of  many  rules  or  traditions  {TrapaSoo-ets;) 
which  he  had  given  then,  and  which  they  were  bound 
to  observe.  "  Keep  the  ordinances  as  I  delivered  them 
to  you."  '  The  word  here  translated  ordinances,  in  the 
margin  of  the  English  Bibles  is  rendered  traditions. 
In  conclusion,  he  refuses  to  argue  with  one  who  cavils 
at  or  rejects  this  rule.  **  If  any  man  seem  to  be  con- 
tentious, we  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the  Churches 
of  God." 

The  truth  which  this  opens  to  us  should  prevent 
any  surprise  on  our  part  at  many  rites  which  were  in 
use  in  the  Primitive  Church,  but  which  are  not  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament.    It  was  the  spirit  of  that 

»  2  Thcss.  ii.  15.  ^  j  Cor.  xi.  2. 


120  THE  CHURCn  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

early  day  which  St.  Chrysostora  has  embodied  in  a  sin- 
gle sentence,  "  He  who  is  duly  strengthened  in  faith 
does  not  go  so  far  as  to  require  argument  and  reason 
for  what  is  enjoined,  but  is  satisfied  with  the  tradition 
alone."  * 

There  was  evidently  in  that  day  a  wide  system  of 
unwritten  discipline,  the  multitude  of  whose  details  it 
was  impossible  for  St.  Paul  to  enumerate  in  writing  to 
tlie  Corinthians,  and  he  could,  therefore,  only  remind 
them  of  his  ways  while  he  was  among  them.  He 
writes,  "  I  praise  you  that  ye  remember  me  in  all 
things."  These  matters  could  only  be  inculcated  by 
the  voice  of  the  living  minister,  and,  as  he  could  not 
visit  them  in  person,  he  sent  Timothy  in  his  place, 
whose  special  object  was  to  remind  them  of  the  Apos- 
tle's teaching.  He  says,  ^' For  this  cause  have  I  sent 
unto  you  Timotheus,  who  shall  bring  you  into  remem- 
brance of  my  ways  which  he  in  Christ,  as  I  leach  every- 
wJiere  in  every  Church^ 

Tertullian  has  well  illustrated  the  duty  of  obedience 
to  tradition,  when,  referring  to  some  rites,  he  says : 
"  Though  this  observance  has  not  been  determined  by 
any  text  of  Scripture,  yet  it  is  established  by  custom, 
which  doubtless  is  derived  from  Apostolic  tradition. 
For  how  can  a  usage  ever  obtain  which  has  not  first 
been  given  by  tradition  ?  But  you  say,  *  Even  though 
tradition  can  be  produced,  still  a  written  (Scripture) 
authority  must  be  demanded.'  Let  us  examine,  then, 
how  far  it  is  tnie  that  an  Apostolic  tradition  itself,  un- 
less written  in  Scripture,  is  inadmissible.  Now,  I  will 
give  up  the  point  at  once,  if  it  is  not  already  determined 

>  In  1  Cor.,  Horn.  26. 


LITURGIES.  121 


by  instances  of  other  observances,  which  are  maintained 
without  any  Scripture  proof,  on  the  mere  plea  of  tradi- 
tion and  the  sanction  of  consequent  custom.  To  begin 
w^ith  baptism.  Before  we  enter  the  water,  we  solemnly 
renounce  the  devil,  his  pomp,  and  his  angels,  in  Church, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Bishop.  Then  we  are  plunged 
in  the  water  thrice,  and  answer  certain  questions  over 
and  above  what  the  Lord  has  determined  in  the  written 
Gospel.  .  .  .  The  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  though 
given  by  the  Lord  to  all,  and  at  supper-time,  yet  is 
celebrated  in  our  meetings  before  daybreak,  and  only  at 
the  hand  of  our  presiding  ministers.  .  .  . 
•  •  "  If  you  demand  a  Scripture  rule  for  these  and  such 
like  observances,  we  can  give  you  none ;  all  we  say  to 
you  is  that  tradition  directs,  usage  sanctions,  faith  obeys. 
That  reason  justifies  this  tradition,  usage,  and  faith,  you 
will  soon  yourself  see,  or  will  easily  learn  from  others  ; 
meanwhile  you  will  do  well  to  believe  that  there  is  a 
law  to  which  obedience  is  due.  .  .  .  These  instances  are 
enough  to  show  that  a  tradition,  even  though  not  in 
Scripture,  still  binds  our  conduct  if  a  continuous  usage 
be  preserved  as  the  witness  of  it."  ^ 

And  this  is  exactly  the  ground  taken  by  our  own 
Church  in  the  Thirty  -  nine  Articles.  In  Article 
XXXiy.,  "  Of  the  Traditions  of  the  Church,"  it  says, 
"  Wliosoever,  through  his  private  judgment,  willingly 
and  purposely,  doth  openly  break  the  Traditions  and 
Ceremonies  of  the  Church,  which  be  not  repugnant  to 
the  Word  of  God,  and  be  ordained  and  approved  by 
common  authority,  ought  to  be  rebuked  openly." 

Now,  the  object  of  tliis  argument  has  been  to  show 

'  Tcrtullian,  **  Dc  Coron.,"  sec.  3. 
G 


122  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

that  there  must  have  been  a  system  of  Eites  and  Ser- 
vices in  the  Early  Church,  which  claimed  the  obedience 
of  its  members,  but  did  not  exist  in  their  written  law. 
If,  therefore,  we  do  not  find  this  llitual  plainly  devel- 
oped in  Scripture,  it  is  no  proof  that  it  did  not  exist. 

There  is  another  consideration.  Christians  in  that 
day  were  surrounded  by  unbelievers,  and  we  may  im- 
agine, therefore,  that,  in  their  intercourse  with  each 
other,  they  would  exercise  a  prudent  caution  with  re- 
gard to  their  mode  of  worship.  This  reserve  would  be 
exhibited  particularly  by  their  teachers ;  and  the  more 
reiTular  and  uniform  was  the  administration  of  Divine 
Service  in  the  Infant  Church,  the  less  likely  would  the 
Apostles  treat  of  it,  particularly  in  their  written  com- 
munications to  the  Churches. 

This  reason,  indeed,  is  plainly  given  by  St.  Basil : 
"  Of  those  articles  of  doctrine  and  preaching,  which 
are  in  the  custody  of  the  Church,  some  come  to  us  in 
Scripture  itself,  some  are  conveyed  to  us  by  a  continu- 
ous tradition  in  mystical  depositories.  Both  have  equal 
claims  on  our  devotion,  and  are  received  by  all — at  least 
by  all  who  are  in  any  respect  Churchmen.  For  should 
we  attempt  to  supersede  the  usages  which  are  not  en- 
joined in  Scripture  as  unimportant,  we  should  do  most 
serious  injury  to  Evangelical  tnith — nay,  reduce  it  to  a 
bare  name. 

"  To  take  an  obvious  instance :  Wliich  Apostle  has 
taught  us  in  Scripture  to  sign  believers  with  the  cross  ? 
Where  does  Scripture  teach  us  to  turn  to  the  East  in 
prayer  ?  Which  of  the  Saints  has  left  us  recorded  in 
Scripture  the  words  of  invocation  at  the  consecration  of 
the  bread  of  the  Eucharist  and  of  the  cup  of  blessing  ? 


LITURGIES.  123 


Thus  we  are  not  content  with  what  Apostle  or  Evan- 
gelist has  left  on  record,  but  we  add  other  rites  before 
and  after  it,  as  important  to  the  celebration  of  the  Mys- 
tery, receiving  them  from  a  teaching  distinct  from 
Scripture.  .  .  .  After  the  example  of  Moses,  the  Apos- 
tles and  Fathers  who  modeled  the  Churches  were  accus- 
tomed to  lodge  their  sacred  doctrine  in  mystic  forms,  as 
being  secretly  and  silently  conveyed.  .  .  .  This  is  the 
reason  why  there  is  a  tradition  of  observances  indepen- 
dent of  Scripture,  lest  doctrines,  leing  exjposed  to  the 
world,  shoxdd  he  so  familiar  as  to  he  desjpisedP  ^ 

He  adds  another  reason  for  the  Eitual  not  being 
given  in  Scripture :  that  the  Kites  were  memorials  of 
doctrines  not  intended  for  publication  exce^Dt  among 
baptized  Christians,  whereas  the  Scriptures  were  open 
to  all  men.  This,  at  least,  is  clear,  that  the  Ritual  could 
scarcely  have  been  given  in  detail  in  Scripture  without 
imparting  to  the  Gospel  the  character  of  a  burdensome 
ceremonial,  and  withdrawing  our  attention  from  its 
doctrines  and  precepts." 

Again,  these  Rites  must  necessarily  have  been  grad- 
ual in  their  growth,  until  they  developed  into  the  full 
Ritual  System  of  later  years.  The  Christians  in  their 
concealment  in  hidden  retreats,  where  alone  they  could 
hold  their  services,  could  not  be  expected  to  have  a  per- 
fect system  of  Ritual.  They  could  only  illustrate  the 
simplest  points  of  their  faith,  and  their  symbolism — as 
we  now  see  in  the  Catacombs  at  Rome — was  confined 
to  these.  It  may  be  admitted,  therefore,  that  the  con- 
struction of  a  Liturgy  by  the  Apostles  was  a  progressive 


•  St.  Basil  on  "  Holy  Spirit,"  sec. 
2  Tracts  (Oxford),  No.  34. 


124:  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

work.  But  the  New  TestameDt  itself  was  thus  formed 
step  by  step,  for  even  between  the  writing  of  the  Gos- 
pels of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John  fifty  years  elapsed. 
We  may  imagine,  too,  that  the  work  of  Christian  hi- 
struction  would  naturally  so  engross  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  that  much  less  could  be  devoted  to  that  of 
the  Liturgy.  Such  was  the  case  at  Troas,  where  the 
"  breaking  of  bread  " — that  is  to  say,  the  celebration  of 
the  Eucharist — was  delayed  till  midnight,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  length  of  the  Apostle's  preaching,  which 
he  resumed  again  after  the  celebration  of  the  Mysteries, 
and  continued  till  daybreak.  But  as  soon  as  the  Chris- 
tian Church  was  founded  in  any  city,  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Ministry,  the  external  forms  received 
enlargement,  and  the  performance  of  Divine  Service 
became  more  solemn.* 

Thus  St.  Paul,  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, represents  that  Church  as  already  performing  the 
Service  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  yet  he  con- 
siders it  necessary  that  he  should  repeat  his  visit,  to  ar- 
range all  things  in  a  more  perfect  way.  This  is  the 
interpretation  invariably  given  by  the  Fathers  to  the 
concluding  words  of  the  passage  in  which  he  speaks  of 
the  Eucharist — "  The  rest  will  I  set  in  order  when  I 
come."  St.  Jerome,  in  his  commentary  on  this  passage, 
refers  it  to  the  Eucharist,  and  St.  Augustine,  in  his 
Letter  to  Januarius,  more  fully  says,  "  These  words 
give  us  to  understand  that  in  the  same  way  as  he  had, 
in  the  course  of  his  Epistle,  made  allusion  to  the  usages 
of  the  Church  Catholic  (on  the  matter  and  essence  of 
the   Sacrament),   he  aftei-ward   himself  instituted  (at 

par  rAbb6  Gudranger,  Paris,  1840. 


LITURGIES.  125 


Corinth)  those  Rites,  the  universality  of  which  is  unaf- 
fected by  any  difference  of  manners."  ^ 

And  now,  having  shown  the  probability  of  there 
being  a  Ritual,  though  not  specifically  set  forth  in  the 
writings  of  the  Apostles,  let  us  pass  on  one  step  further, 
and  show  the  positive  existence  of  this  Liturgy  by  trac- 
ing allusions  either  in  the  Scriptures  or  the  early  writers 
which  have  a  reference  to  the  forms,  which  are  substan- 
tially those  we  now  use. 

We  might  draw  some  Scripture  sanction  from  the 
minuteness  of  the  Jewish  Ceremonial,  for  it  would  be 
difficult  to  affirm  that  what  was  once  the  subject  of  a 
Divine  command,  given  with  so  much  particularity, 
could  be  at  any  time  unsuited  to  human  nature,  or  im- 
proper for  worship.  The  revelations  of  Christianity 
have  not  changed  man's  spiritual  nature.  The  very 
object  which  all  this  **pomp  and  circumstance"  w\as 
designed  to  promote  then  is  as  important  with  us  now — 
that  is,  the  realizing  of  the  greatness  and  awfulncss  of 
God.  In  fact,  it  applies  with  so  much  more  force  to 
us,  as  the  Christian  has  a  more  solemn  nearness  to  God, 
through  His  Son,  than  had  the  Jews."  But  we  have 
actual  intimations  in  the  New  Testament  of  the  same 
principle  being  continued. 

That  noble,  supplicatory .  Hymn,  to  which  we  have 
before  alluded,  in  which  the  first  Christians  uplifted 
their  voices  in  praise  when  St.  Peter  was  miraculously 
released  from  prison,  proves,  l)y  the  technical  nicety  of 
its  construction,  that  it  was  an  anthem  of  the  Church 
w^ith  which  they  were  well  acquainted,  and  not  an  effu- 
sion of  the  moment. 

» Ibid  ,  p.  31.  "  "  British  Critic,"  vol.  xxx.,  p.  444. 


126  TEE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

In  the  opening  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  have 
the  "breaking  of  bread,"  and  then,  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  St.  Paul  points  out  the  Liturgical 
importance  of  this  rite.  And  even  in  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  the  Church,  how  grand  was  the  Service, 
as  we  learn  from  early  writers,  in  which  it  was  cele- 
brated !  "  We  have  an  altar,"  *  says  St.  Paul,  and  at 
this  the  rites  were  administered.  Around  it  were  ar- 
ranged, in  accordance  with  the  picture  of  the  celestial 
worship  given  by  St.  John,'  first,  in  front,  the  Apostle 
or  Bishop ;  on  the  right  and  left  were  the  Priests,  sym- 
bolizing the  four-and-twenty  elders ;  and  near  the  altar, 
the  Deacons  and  otlier  Ministers,  suggesting  the  idea 
of  the  Angels  who  wait,  in  the  attitude  of  servants, 
about  the  Heavenly  Throne.  This  is  the  picture  given 
by  early  writers,  and  this  arrangement  of  the  seats  is 
still  observed  in  the  Apses  of  Churches  in  the  East. 
And  if,  in  the  "West,  this  primitive  custom  has  fallen 
into  disuse,  the  Church  of  Eome  has  maintained  the 
tradition  in  tlie  arrangement  of  the  choir  of  several  of 
the  ancient  Churches,  and  follows  it  precisely  when- 
ever the  Pope  celebrates,  or  assists  pontifically,  in  any 
one  of  the  Patriarchal  Basilicas.' 

The  faithful  being  assembled,  the  Service  began. 
The  celebrant,  precisely  as  he  now  does,  read  from  the 
Apostolical  Epistles,  and  recited  a  portion  of  the  Holy 
Gospel.  This  in  the  early  day  was  the  Catechumen's 
Service,  being  that  portion  in  which  he  was  permitted 
to  take  part.  St.  Paul  says  to  the  Colossians,  "  When 
this  Epistle  is  read  among  you,  cause  that  it  be  read 
also  in  the  Church  of  the  Laodiccans,"  and  in  writing  to 

*  Ileb  xiii.  10.  '  Rev.  iv.  •  Abbe  Gu6ranger. 


LITURGIES.  127 


the  Tliessalonians  he  adds,  "  I  charge  you  by  the  Lord 
that  this  Epistle  be  read  unto  all  the  holy  brethren." 
And  we  learn  that  this  injunction  had  the  force  of  law 
from  the  first,  for,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, St.  Justin,  in  his  description  of  the  Service,  says, 
"  The  Epistles  of  the  Apostles  are  read."  As  to  the 
reading  of  the  Gospel,  Eusebius  informs  us  that  the 
narrative  of  our  Lord's  actions,  from  the  pen  of  St. 
Mark,  was  approved  by  St.  Peter,  to  be  "  read  in  all 
the  Churches." 

The  salutation  to  the  people — "  The  Lord  be  with 
you !  " — was  one  with  which  all  were  familiar  before 
Christian  times.  It  was  in  use  under  the  Ancient  Law. 
"With  these  w^ords  Boaz  addresses  the  reapers,'  and  un- 
der the  new  Dispensation  it  holds  its  place  in  all  the 
Liturgies  of  the  East  and  West. 

The  Collects,  according  to  St.  Augustine,  were  in  all 
the  ancient  Liturgies.  The  conclusion  of  the  prayers — 
"  for  ever  and  ever  " — has  likewise  been  used  from  the 
remotest  antiquity.  So,  the  custom  of  responding, 
"Amen,"  can  be  traced  to  the  Apostolic  Age.  St. 
Paul  himself  alludes  to  it  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.' 

Before  the  consecration,  St.  Cyprian  tells  us,  came 
the  Preface.  "We  can  trace  it  back  to  the  very  cradle 
of  the  Church.  Then  the  Priest  gave  the  Exhortation, 
"  Lift  up  your  hearts ! "  and  the  people  responded, 
"  "We  lift  them  up  unto  the  Lord."  Then  comes  the 
form  of  thanksgiving,  which  St.  Cyril,  in  addressing  the 
Catechumens  of  Jerusalem,  a  Church  certainly  of  Apos- 
tolic foundation,  explains  to   them,  ''  Gratias  agamus 

>  Ruth  iv.  4.  »  1  Cor.  xv.  16. 


128  THE  CEURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Domino  Deo  nostro  !  Dignum  et  justuin  est."  (^ye 
give  tlianks  unto  the  Lord  our  God !  It  is  right  and 
meet.)  IIow  entirely  have  we  retained  this  iii  the 
ascription :  "  It  is  very  meet,  right,  and  our  boundcn 
duty,  that  we  should  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places,  give 
thanks  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  Holy  Father,  Almighty, 
Everlasting  God ! " 

Next  comes  the  Seraphic  Ilymn,  "  Sanctus,  Sanctus, 
Sanctus  Dominus."  (Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God.) 
Isaiah,  under  the  Old  Dispensation,  heard  it  chanted  at 
the  foot  of  the  throne  of  Jehovah ;  *  under  the  New, 
the  prophet  of  Patmos  repeats  it  as  he  heard  it  sung 
before  the  Throne  of  the  Lamb.'  This  chant  of  sur- 
passing praise,  thus  revealed  to  the  world,  found  its 
echo  in  every  Christian  Church.  Every  Liturgy  recog- 
nizes it,  and  nowhere  is  there  any  form  in  which  the 
Eucharist  was  offered,  which  does  not  include  it. 

Then  comes  the  "  Protracted  Prayer,"  as  St.  Jerome 
terms  it,  and  it  was  to  this  the  Early  Fathers  say  that 
St.  Paul  referred,  when  he  writes  to  Timothy,  that 
"  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of 
thanks,  be  made  for  all  men."  *  Thus  it  is  that  St. 
Augustine  comments  on  this  passage :  "  In  these  words, 
we  understand,  with  the  whole  or  nearly  the  whole 
Church,  by  supplications,  those  which  we  use  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Sacraments,  before  the  Benediction  of 
what  is  on  the  Lord's  Table ;  by  prayers^  those  in  the 
Benediction  and  Sanctification,  and  breaking  for  distri- 
bution, the  whole  of  wliich  act  of  supplication  is,  in  al- 
most every  Church,  concluded  by  the  Lord's  Prayer ; 
by  intercessions y  or,  as  our  manuscripts  have  it,  eiv- 

'  Isaiah  vi.  3.  *  Rev.  iv.  8.  »  1  Tim.  ii.  1. 


LITURGIES.  129 


treaties  {postulations\  those  used  in  blessing  the  people. 
For  then  it  is  that  the  Priests,  in  their  character  of  ad- 
vocates, present  their  clients  to  the  Heavenly  clemency. 
Finally,  when  all  is  over,  and  the  '  so  great  sacrifice ' 
has  been  participated,  the  whole  is  concluded  by  giving 
of  thanks.''^ 

After  the  Consecration,  and  while  the  elements  are 
on  the  Altar,  this  "  Canonical  Prayer "  having  been 
brought  to  a  conclusion,  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  pronounced. 
"  For,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "  Christ  Himself  taught  His 
Apostles  to  say  daily  in  faith,  with  boldness,  at  the  offer- 
ing of  His  Body,  our  Father,"  etc.* 

The  celebrant  then  proceeds  to  the  breaking  of  the 
Bread,  whereby  he  imitates  the  action  of  our  Lord  Him- 
self, who  took  the  bread,  blessed  and  Irahe  it.  In  the 
distribution,  the  same  form  was  always  used,  even  from 
the  first  Institution  of  this  Rite,  that  which  St.  Paul 
recorded  in  his  account  of  the  celebration  of  this  Sacra- 
ment.' 

Thus  it  is  that  we  trace,'  even  in  Apostolic  times, 
the  outline  of  our  Eucharistic  Ofiice,  and  we  find  that 
all  the  solemn  prayers  and  ceremonies  w^e  now  enjoy, 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  earliest  centuries. 

The  testimony,  indeed,  of  all  tradition  is,  that  even 
from  the  first,  as  soon  as  the  Church  was  organized  so 
as  to  regulate  its  public  worship,  stated  forms  were 
used,  in  which  all  could  join.  Four  of  these  Liturgies 
which  are  still  extant,  and  bear  the  names  of  different 

>  "  Adv.  rclag.,"  1,  18.  2  1  Cor.  xi.  24. 

'  For  many  of  these  points  we  are  indebted  to  the  Abbe  Gueranger. 
His  *'  Institutions  Liturgiques "  is  written  indeed  from  a  Romish  point 
of  view,  but  his  array  of  historical  facts  is  valuable. 


130  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Apostles,  are  evidently  those  from  which  all  subsequent 
Liturgies  were  derived.  Of  their  origin  we  know  not, 
except  what  the  traditions  of  the  different  Churches 
have  given  us,  but  thej  can  be  traced  back  to  that 
period  when  the  words  of  our  Lord  still  lingered  in  the 
memories  of  His  followers,  and  men  were  yet  living 
who  had  known  Apostles,  and  talked  with  those  who 
had  seen  their  Master  in  the  flesh. 

The  first  of  these — the  Great  Oriental  Liiurgy — 
bears  the  name  of  St.  James,  and  seems  to  have  prevailed 
in  all  the  Churches  of  the  East,  from  the  Euphrates  to 
the  Hellespont,  and  from  the  Ilellespont  to  the  southern 
extremity  of  Greece. 

The  second — the  Alexandrian — attributed  to  St. 
Mark,  from  time  immemorial  has  been  the  Liturgy  of 
Egypt,  Abyssinia,  and  the  country  extending  along  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  toward  the  West. 

The  third  was — the  Roman — bearing  the  name  of 
St.  Peter,  which  prevailed  throughout  the  whole  of 
Italy,  Sicily,  and  some  of  the  Dioceses  in  Africa. 

The  fourth  was — the  Gallican — called  after  St. 
John,  and  derived  originally  from  the  Church  at  Eplie- 
sus.  It  was  used  in  Gaul  and  Spain,  and  throughout 
Western  Europe.* 

There  is  one  circumstance  connected  with  these  four 
Liturgies  which  deserves  our  notice.  It  is  the  striking 
similarity  between  them  all,  not  only  in  doctrine,  but 
also  in  expression  and  arrangement.  Mr.  Palmer  as- 
serts,' that  all  the  ancient  Liturgies  now  existing,  or 
which  can  be  proved  to  have  existed  in  those  early  days, 

*  For  the  best  discussion  of  the  Ancient  Liturgies,  see  Nealc's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Holy  Eastern  Church."  ^  u  Q,.jg  yturg." 


LITURGIES.  131 


resemble  one  another  in  all  essential  features.  This,  of 
course,  strengthens  the  argument  for  their  antiquity  and 
their  derivation  from  the  same  origin.  For  among  the 
changes  which  were  going  on  through  so  many  ages, 
in  the  formation  everywhere  of  new  Dioceses,  nothing 
but  a  reverence  for  the  Apostolical  source  from  which 
these  original  Liturgies  were  believed  to  be  derived, 
could  have  prevented  an  infinite  variety  of  formularies, 
and  preserved  the  substantial  uniformity  which  we  find 
to  have  prevailed  in  vast  districts  of  the  Primitive 
Church.  Separate  Liturgies  were  indeed  often  used  in 
Provincial  Churches,  for  each  Bishop  had  the  right  to 
compose  one  for  his  own  diocese  as  long  as  he  did  not 
violate  the  unity  of  the  faith.  Changes,  therefore,  were 
made,  adapting  it  to  local  circumstances,  and  the  Calen- 
dar was  usually  constructed  to  introduce  Festivals  in 
honor  of  the  Saints  and  Martyrs  who  had  lived  and 
died  among  them.  Still,  as  we  have  remarked,  there 
was  no  material  difference  from  the  Great  Liturgies 
which  they  copied.  "  The  order  of  the  parts  was  always 
preserved,  the  same  rites  and  ceremonies  continually 
repeated,  the  same  ideas  and  language  without  material 
variation,  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation."  ' 
And  so,  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  these  Great 
Liturgies  have  gone  on  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
yet  gradually  altering  and  becoming  more  unlike  each 
other  and  the  early  forms  which  have  come  down  to 
us,  as  through  passing  centuries  they  were  adapted  to 
the  changing  exigencies  of  particular  Churches.  And 
here  again  we  are  called  to  mark  that  contrast  of  Ori- 
ental and  Western  character  to  which  we  have  before 

*  Palmer's  "  Orig.  Liturg.,"  Preface,  p.  9. 


132  THE  CnURCn  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

referred  in  the  sketeli  of  Arianism.     In  the  changes  of 
the  Ritual  we  see  the  same  influences  at  work. 

"  The  East  is  more  unifonn  and  unchanging ;  the 
West  more  multiform  and  variable.  Witness  the  sin- 
gle, changeless  Invitatory  and  Benediction  of  the  one 
Church,  and  their  endless  variations  in  the  other.  While 
the  West  rings  countless  changes,  according  to  the 
season,  on  the  same  essential  idea,  the  East  prolongs  it 
in  one  unvaried  and  majestic  toll,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  year.  The  East,  again,  is  more  rapt, 
the  West  more  intellectual.  The  East  loves  rather  to 
meditate  on  God  as  He  is,  and  on  the  facts  of  Christian 
doctrine  as  they  stand  in  the  Creed  ;  the  AVest  contem- 
plates more  pmctically  the  great  phenomena  of  Chris- 
tian psychology',  and  the  relations  of  man  to  God. 
Hence,  Psalms  and  Hymns  in  more  profuse  abundance 
characterize  the  Eastera,  larger  use  and  more  elaborate 
adaptations  of  Scripture  the  Western  Offices.  The  East, 
by  making  the  Psalms  all  her  meditation,  seems  to  de- 
clare her  mind  that  praise  is  the  only  way  to  knowl- 
edge ;  the  West,  by  her  combined  Psalm  and  Lection 
system,  that  knowledge  is  the  proper  fuel  of  praise. 
While  the  East,  again,  soars  to  God  in  exclamations  of 
angelic  self-forgetfulness,  the  West  comprehends  all  the 
spiritual  needs  of  man  in  Collects  of  matchless  pro- 
fundity, reminding  us  of  the  alleged  distinction  between 
the  seraphim,  who  love  most,  and  the  cherubim,  who 
know  most.  Thus,  the  East  praises,  the  West  pleads  ; 
the  one  has  fixed  her  eye  more  intently  on  the  glory- 
throne  of  Christ,  the  other  on  His  cross.  Finally,  the 
East  has  been  more  inquisitive  and  inventive  in  the  de- 
partments both  of  knowledge  and  praise ;  the  West, 


LITURGIES.  133 


more  constructive,  Las  wronglit  up,  out  of  scattered 
Eastern  materials,  her  exhaustive  Athanasian  Creed  and 
lier  matchless  Te  Deimi."  * 

And  strange  is  it  that  the  Anglican  Ritual,  while  it 
may  fail  in  largeness  and  beauty  in  comparison  with 
other  E-ituals,  yet  possesses  more  fully  the  spirit  of  these 
early  services  than  any  other.  Of  the  ancient  forms 
how  few  are  now  heard  in  the  Churches  of  Europe ! 
The  Galilean  and  the  Spanish  have  been  extinct  for 
centuries,  or  survive  only  in  the  merest  fragments.  Oth- 
ers, as  the  Roman  and  the  Milanese,  are  used  only  for 
the  devotions  of  the  clergy.  In  truth,  the  Offices  of  the 
"Western  Church,  from  the  sixth  to  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, were,  by  their  origin  and  their  general  cast  and 
scheme,  monastic,  and  bear  this  deeply  impressed  upon 
their  stnicture.  The  study,  therefore,  of  these  Western 
Offices  in  their  old  form  is  an  antiquarian  one,  like  the 
study  of  a  dead  language.  As  public  Services  of  the 
Church  these  ancient  and  grand  Offices  nowhere  exist. 
The  exquisite  harmony  has  ceased.  Lauds  and  Prime, 
Antiphon  and  Responsory,  are  heard  no  more  as  they 
were  in  the  ancient  Church." 

In  our  o^vn  Liturgy  alone  the  ancient  Western  Offices 
really  survive.  "  Psalmody,  Scripture,  responsive  Can- 
ticles, Preces,  Collects,  the  media  of  Europe's  ancient 
worship,  banished  from  all  other  lands,  have  taken  ref- 
uge in  the  Churches  of  the  English  Communion.  The 
English  Church  is  in  this  matter  the  heir  of  the  world. 
She  may  have  diminished  her  inheritance,  but  all  other 
"Westei-n  Churches  have  thrown  it  away."  ^ 

'  Freeman's  "  Principles  of  Divine  Service,"  p.  273. 
«  Ibid.  3  iijij,^  p.  279. 


134  TUE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

.  .  .  .  "  Quod  quaBrimus,  hie  est, 
Aut  nusquam." 

The  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  was  derived 
from  the  Galliean,  and  introduced  into  that  country  by 
St.  Augustin ;  it  has  thus  an  Oriental,  not  a  Roman 
origin.  The  venerable  Bede  has  preserv^ed  the  letter 
of  St.  Gregory  the  Great  to  St.  Augustin,  in  answer 
to  one  in  which  he  announced  that  Britain  had  received 
the  faith,  and  inquires  as  to  the  diflerent  Rituals.  But 
St.  Gregory  tells  him  he  need  not  follow  the  Roman 
Ritual,  as  such,  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  but 
to  select  what  he  found  best  in  the  Roman,  Galliean, 
or  other  Churches.  "Choose,  therefore,"  he  writes, 
"  from  every  Church  those  things  which  are  pious,  re- 
ligious, and  upright,  and  having,  as  it  were,  made  them 
up  in  one  mass,  let  the  minds  of  the  English  be  accus- 
tomed thereto."  * 

Kow,  St.  Augustin,  while  on  his  journey  to  Eng- 
land, spent  some  time  at  Marseilles,  and  between  his 
two  visits  to  England  he  went  to  Aries,  and  there  it 
was  he  received  consecration.  lie  probably,  therefore, 
adopted  the  Galliean  Ritual,  in  accordance  with  the  ad- 
vice of  St.  Gregory.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this  Gal- 
lic descent  that  we  can  trace  a  greater  resemblance  in 
the  old  English  Services  to  the  Oriental  than  to  the 
Roman  forms. 

The  Refonnation,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  found  the  Chm*ch  of  England  still  in  posses- 
sion of  this  precious  legacy,  though  deformed  by  the 
additions  it  had  received  during  ages  of  superstition. 
These  were  swept  away,  and  it  was  restored  again  to 

»  Bede's  "Ecclcs.  Hist,"  p.  47. 


LITUR0IE8.  135 


its  primitive  simplicity.  So  clear  were  the  revisers  on 
this  point,  that  Cranmer  (as  Jeremy  Taylor  has  record- 
ed) offered  to  prove  that  "  the  order  of  the  Church  of 
England,  set  out  by  authority  by  Edward*  YI.,  was  the 
same  that  had  been  used  in  the  Church  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  past."  Her  children  now,  therefore,  utter 
the  same  prayers  which  in  the  earliest  centuries  of  our 
faith,  on  each  returning  Sunday,  were  uplifted  at  Ephe- 
sus,  at  Antioch,  in  the  north  of  Africa,  and  through 
Western  Europe/  How  impressive  is  the  thought  of 
the  wide-spread  use  of  these  ancient  fonns,  as  they  are 
BOW  repeated  in  many  a  strange  tongue  over  the  whole 
earth  !  "  The  fullness  of  the  stream  is  the  glory  of  the 
fountain ;  and  it  is  because  the  Ganges  is  not  lost 
among  its  native  hills,  but  deepens  and  widens  until  it 
reaches  the  ocean,  that  so  many  pilgrimages  are  made 
to  its  springs."  " 

Each  one  of  us  may  adopt  the  words  of  the  poet' : 

"  Mine  is  no  solitary  choice, 

See  here  the  seal  of  saints  impressed ; 
The  prayer  of  millions  swells  my  voice — 
The  mind  of  ages  fills  my  breast." 

It  is  this  which  gives  so  great  an  historical  interest 

'  The  present  Duke  of  Argyll,  in  referring  to  the  fact  that  so  many 
leading  Scotch  families  had  "  left  the  communion  of  Presbytery  and 
joined  that  of  the  English  Church,"  says :  "  "Very  few  have  been  induced 
to  do  80  by  any  previous  conversion  to  Church  principles.  .  .  .  The 
deeper  source  of  the  extensive  alienation  which  has  taken  place,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  superior  attractions  of  a  more  Ritual  worship^  in  the  weak- 
ness of  a  predominantly  dogmatic  and  informal  system,  to  keep  up  per- 
manent attachment  in  times  of  religious  peace." — Edinburgh  Review^  vol. 
xcv.,  p.  477. 

'  "Bishop  Thirwall's  Charge,"  1857.  ^  Cunningham. 


136  THE  CHURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


to  our  Service,  increasing  as  we  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  origin  of  its  prayers.  They  connect 
us  with  important  eras  of  the  Church  in  far-distant 
ages,  and  with  saintly  and  heroic  men,  whose  names 
have  been  wafted  down  to  us  as  leaders  in  the  troublous 
times  in  which  they  lived.  The  Prayer-Book  has, 
therefore,  been  truly  called  "  a  long  gallery  of  Ecclesi- 
astical History."  As,  for  instance,  we  chant  the  Te 
Deum — it  carries  us  back  to  the  days  when  St.  Ambrose 
first  uplifted  it  in  the  Church  at  Milan.  The  Litany 
was  given  to  the  Latin  Church  by  Gregory  the  Great. 
It  was  when  troubles  were  gathering  about  the  "  Eter- 
nal City  " — when  it  was  devastated  by  "  war,  pestilence, 
and  famine" — that  it  seemed  good  to  him  to  gather 
from  the  ancient  existing  Litanies  all  that  could  best 
call  forth  the  penitential  devotion  of  the  Gliurch,  thus 
"  drawing  the  flower  of  them  all  into  one."  *  From  the 
great  Patriarch  of  the  Byzantine  Church,  the  eloquent 
St.  Chrysostom,  we  derive  the  last  prayer  with  which 
our  Service  closes.  The  "  Yeni,  Creator  Spiritus," 
brings  up  again  the  remembrance  of  St.  Ambrose, 
among  whose  works  it  was  placed  as  a  Hymn  for  Pente- 
cost, and  always  used  in  the  Koman  Church  in  that  day, 
till  it  was  transferred  to  the  Office  for  the  Consecration 
of  a  Bishop.' 

And  then  with  what  added  interest  can  we  utter  the 
Collect  for  the  Fifth  Sunday  after  Trinity  when  we  re- 
member the  circumstances  imder  which  it  was  first  in- 
corporated into  the  Service — that  it  was  amid  the  expir- 
ing agonies  which  marked  the  closing  days  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  when  ''  men's  hearts  were   failing  them  for 

1  Hooker's  "Eccles.  Pol,"  lib.  v.,  sec.  42.  «  Doan  Comber. 


LITURGIES.  137 


fear  "  lest  the  mighty  edifice  which  was  tottering  to  its 
fall  might  crush,  too,  the  Church  with  which  it  was  so 
intimately  connected  !  Then,  indeed,  the  true-hearted 
might  well  pray,  "  Grant,  O  Lord,  we  beseech  Thee, 
that  the  course  of  this  world  may  be  so  peaceably  or- 
dered by  Thy  governance  that  Thy  Church  may  joy- 
fully serve  Thee  in  all  godly  quietness,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 

"We  have  gathered,  indeed,  into  this  Liturgy  the 
treasures  of  the  olden  time,  reaching  back  even  to  the 
far -distant  Hebrew  Church,  and  appropriating  its 
Hymns  of  penitence  and  triumph,  so  that  the  Songs  of 
the  Kingly  Poet  of  Israel  have  become  the  Anthems  of 
the  Christian  Church.  And  with  these  strains  from 
the  ancient  Tabernacle  may  be  made  the  utterance  of 
every  feeling,  whether  of  sorrow  for  sin,  of  thanksgiv- 
ing for  the  past,  or  of  prayer  for  the  future.  They 
speak  the  voice  of  Humanity,  no  matter  what  are  the 
circumstances  w^hich  call  it  forth.  They  are  adapted  to 
every  exigency  of  our  changing  life — to  joy  and  sorrow 
— to  the  petition  for  pardon  and  the  Psalm  of  thanksgiv- 
ing— and  they  who  have  attempted  to  improve  on  them, 
or  to  find  more  fitting  words  in  which  to  clothe  tlieir 
devotions,  have  discovered  that  nothing  else  could  equal 
their  fullness  and  variety.  And  now  let  us  give  a 
single  instance  of  this,  which  History  furnishes. 

More  than  two  centuries  ago,  on  a  wild  December 
day,  a  band  of  pilgrims  landed  on  the  rock-bound  coast 
of  New  England.  For  months  they  had  been  storm- 
tossed  upon  the  ocean,  while  the  land  to  which  their 
hopes  were  directed  receded  in  the  distant  horizon. 
Yet  now  they  were  safe  from  the  perils  of  the  sea  at 


138  THE  GEURCH  OF  TUB  APOSTLES. 

least,  and  we  are  told,  on  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  shore 
they  offered  up  their  gratitude  to  the  Power  which  had 
rescued  them  from  the  deep.  The  language  of  poetry 
has  consecrated  their  worship,  as  it  recorded  the  fact 
that— 

"  They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert's  gloom 
With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. 
Amid  the  storm  they  sang, 

And  the  stars  heard  and  the  sea, 
And  the  sounding  aisles  of  the  dim  woods  rang 
To  the  anthems  of  the  free."  * 

"We  know  not  in  what  words  they  presented  their 
thanksgivings,  yet  they  were  probably  phrases  suggested 
by  the  feelings  of  the  moment,  for  such  was  their  creed 
on  this  subject.  Yet  had  they  taken  that  old,  familiar 
Praycr-Book  in  wliich  their  fathers  had  worshiped,  but 
which  they  had  discarded,  and  turned  to  the  very  Ser- 
vice which  on  that  day  and  hour  was  being  read  in  many 
a  Church  in  their  ancient  homes  in  England,  where 
could  words  more  appropriate  to  their  own  condition 
have  been  found  ?  It  was  the  twenty-second  day  of 
the  month,  and  thus  the  Psalm  for  the  day  describes  the 
perils  through  which  they  had  passed  : 

"They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  and  occupy  their 
business  in  great  waters ; 

These  men  see  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  His  wonders  in  the 
deep. 

For  at  His  word  the  stormy  wind  ariseth,  which  lifteth  np  the 
waves  thereof. 

They  are  carried  np  to  the  heaven  and  down  again  to  the 
deep ;  tlieir  soul  melteth  away  because  of  the  trouble. 

They  reel  to  and  fro  and  stagger  like  a  drunken  man  and  are 
at  their  wits'  end. 

■  Mrs.  Ilemans. 


LITURGIES.  139 


So  when  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  He  delivereth 
tliem  out  of  their  distress. 

For  He  maketh  the  storm  to  cease,  so  that  the  waves  thereof 
are  still. 

Then  are  they  glad,  because  they  are  at  rest ;  and  so  He  bring- 
cth  them  unto  the  haven  where  they  would  be. 

O  that  men  would,  therefore,  praise  the  Lord  for  Ilis  good- 
ness, and  declare  the  wonders  that  He  doeth  for  the  children  of 
men !  " 

And  then  how  nobly  does  the  same  Psahn,  in  a  pro- 
phetic spirit,  go  on  to  sketch  the  happy  destiny  which 
awaited  them  in  the  land  of  their  adoption ! — 

"  He  maketh  the  wilderness  a  standing  water  and  water-springs 
of  a  dry  gi-ound. 

And  there  He  setteth  the  hungry,  that  they  may  build  them  a 
city  to  dwell  in ; 

That  they  may  sow  their  land,  and  plant  vineyards,  to  yield 
them  fruits  of  increase. 

lie  blesseth  them,  so  that  they  multiply  exceedingly,  and  suf- 
fercth  not  their  cattle  to  decrease. 

And  again,  when  they  are  miuished  and  brought  low  through 
oppression,  through  any  plague  or  trouble  ; 

Though  He  suffer  them  to  bo  evil -entreated  through  tyrants, 
and  let  them  wander  out  of  the  way  in  the  wilderness ; 

Yet  helpeth  lie  the  poor  out  of  misery,  and  maketh  him 
households  like  a  flock  of  sheep. 

The  righteous  will  consider  this  and  rejoice,  and  the  mouth  of 
all  wickedness  shall  be  stopped." 

And  now  let  ns  briefly  look  at  the  Witness  which 
this  Service  bears,  and  it  will  be  an  inducement  to  us  to 
"  continue  steadfastly "  in  these  Prayers  which  the 
Church  nsed  in  the  Apostles'  days. 

The  Church  then,  in  its  Services,  witnesses  against 
the  world,  to  claim  from  it  our  time.     As  days  pass  by 


140  THE  CnURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

lis,  they  are  marked  in  the  outward  world  by  those 
changes  which  God  Ilimself  has  ordained.  The  sun 
rises  and  sets,  and  the  moon  is  "  established  as  a  faithful 
witness  in  heaven."  Thus  day  and  night,  light  and 
darkness,  succeed  each  other,  and  man  labors  and  rests 
as  they  prescribe.  The  seasons,  too,  pass  by — Spring 
and  Autumn,  Summer  and  Winter,  Seed-time  and  Har- 
vest. To  these  changes  men  are  compelled  to  confomi 
— to  adapt  themselves  to  them.  But  all  this  is  of  the 
outward  world.  It  regards  the  way  in  which  Time 
should  be  distributed  in  its  service — how  man  should 
rise  and  sleep,  and  "  go  forth  unto  his  work  and  to  his 
labor  until  the  evening" — how  he  should  j)lod  along 
the  path  of  this  world's  business. 

Now,  the  Church  comes  in,  and  by  her  SeiTices 
claims  an  interest  in  this  Time.  Her  Calendar  is  the 
ceaseless  witness  that  it  belongs  not  to  us — not  to  the 
world — but  to  our  Lord.  She  has  her  appointed  Pray- 
ers for  Morning  and  Evening,  that  devotion  may  go 
with  us  into  our  worldly  business.  She  takes  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  and  sanctifies  it  by  a  peculiar  conse- 
cration. And  then  how  admirably  does  she  lead  us 
through  the  year  with  our  Lord  !  Advent  and  Christ- 
mas, Good-Friday,  Easter,  and  Ascension,  with  their 
intennediate  Festivals,  trace  the  course  of  His  solemn 
pilgrimage  from  i\\Q  manger  of  Bethlehem  to  the  ago- 
nies of  Calvar}^,  and  thence  again  to  the  heights  of  Oli- 
vet, where  He  parted  from  His  disciples,  and  "  a  cloud 
received  Him  out  of  their  sight."  She  has  her  alterna- 
tions of  Yigils  and  Fasts — of  Abstinence  and  Feasts^ 
her  voice  of  warning  to  the  living,  and  her  commemora- 
tion of  the  dead  who  have  passed  away,  that  those  who 


LITURGIES.  141 


Btill  linger  in  tlieir  earthly  homes  may  imbibe  their 
spirit  and  tread  in  their  footsteps.  And  then,  once  in 
each  year,  she  calls  us  to  times  of  peculiar  sadness. 
She  has  her  Lenten  Season  of  forty  days  of  fasting  and 
mortification  and  self-denial  and  weeping  for  sin,  that 
lier  children  may  free  themselves  more  entirely  from 
this  world's  influences.  Tims  the  Holy  Seasons  to 
which  her  Ritual  calls  us  are  scattered  through  the  year, 
sanctifying  each  part  of  it.  Like  low  and  solemn 
sounds,  they  appeal  to  the  spirit,  now  in  notes  of  sad- 
ness and  now  of  joy,  making  the  heart,  as  it  were,  the 
dwelling-place  of  a  pei"petual  echo  of  heavenly  sounds, 
realizing  those  words  of  the  Apostle,  "  There  are,  it 
may  be,  so  many  kinds  of  voices  in  the  world,  and  none 
of  them  are  without  signification."  ^ 

Thus  it  is  that  the  Church  endeavors  to  consecrate 
the  time  which  otherwise  would  pass  by  ns  without 
leaving  any  valuable  lesson.  She  breathes  a  new  spirit 
into  it,  and  makes  what  is  interfering  with  our  happi- 
ness minister  to  our  spiritual  progress.  For  is  it  not 
an  unhappy  influence  which  Time  produces,  with  resist- 
less authority  wearing  away  our  love  and  our  affections, 
and  forcing  us  to  be  forgetful  and  cold,  when  we  ear- 
nestly desire  to  be  otherwise  ?  "  There  are  many  of  ns 
who  have  lost  parents  or  children,  or  friends,  who  wonld 
fain  have  kept  alive  within  our  hearts  the  same  keen 
and  lively  memory  of  them,  as  we  had  when  first  they 
died.  But  Time  will  not  let  us ;  it  hurries  us  along ; 
and  our  impressions  grow  fainter  and  fainter,  till  at  last 
they  almost  die  away.  Then  in  our  friendship,  and  our 
loves,  time  grievously  interferes  with  us.     It  will  not 

'  1  Oor.  xiv.  10. 


142  TEE  CEURCn  OF  TEE  APOSTLES. 

allow  the  glow  of  our  affection  to  continue.  "We  cease 
to  love  friends  we  have  loved  before  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  lapse  of  time  has  cooled  our  love,  and  we 
are  not  able  to  withstand  its  power."  * 

And  how  often  are  we  forced  to  feel  that  we,  too, 
must  be  subjected  to  this  Lethean  power,  and  be  for- 
gotten as  are  those  who  have  trodden  the  path  of  life 
before  us !  As  we  take  our  place  in  the  toil  and  busi- 
ness of  this  lower  world,  and  endeavor  to  play  our  little 
part  in  the  warfare  which  is  waging  about  us,  how  often 
are  we  forced  to  feel  that  one  day  all  this  will  be  going 
on  as  now,  unabated  in  its  earnestness,  when  we  arc 
gone,  and  the  places  which  now  know  us  are  to  know 
us  no  more  forever  !  "  Men  will  have  our  houses  and 
our  gardens,  and  will  be  glad  and  happy  therein.  They 
will  walk  about  the  same  streets,  and  have  the  same 
joyous  meetings,  when  we  shall  be  slowly  and  neglect- 
edly  falling  back  into  the  cold  earth  out  of  which  we 
came  ;  and  they  who  loved  us  will  have  laid  us  therein, 
shed  a  few  slight  tears  upon  our  coffin,  gone  to  their 
pleasure  or  their  toil,  and  straightway  forgotten  all 
about  us.  And  yet  they  are  not  unfaithful  or  unaffec- 
tionate.     It  is  Time's  fault,  not  theirs." ' 

I^ow  this  is  what  the  Calendar  does,  when  it  take^^ 
this  flight  of  time  and  teaches  us  from  it  the  lesson  of 
our  own  immortality.  From  this  craving  within  us 
which  nothing  here  can  satisfy,  this  shrinking  back 
from  forgetfulness,  this  fleeting  current  which  goes  by 
us,  and  which  we  cannot  arrest,  the  Church  proves  to 
us  that  Time  is  nothing,  but  everything  is  leading  us 
on  to  the  Eternity  beyond. 

»  F.  W.  Fabcr.  «  Ibid. 


LITURGIES.  143 


And  this  Calendar,  which  places  such  solemn  lessons 
before  us,  as  we  go  onward  in  life,  is  not  the  invention 
of  modern  wisdom,  but  the  growth  of  ages  better  than 
our  own,  of  ages  of  self-denial  and  holiness,  when  men 
stood  on  a  height  of  sanctity  to  which  now  we  seem  un- 
able to  attain.  It  was  moulded  into  its  form  by  men 
who,  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  in  all  their  works 
praised  the  Holy  One  most  High  with  words  of  glory, 
and  with  their  whole  heart  sang  songs ;  who  set  singers 
before  the  altar,  that  by  their  voices  they  might  make 
sweet  melody,  and  daily  sing  praises  in  their  tongs ;  and 
beautified  their  feasts,  and  set  in  order  the  solemn  times 
until  the  end,  that  they  might  praise  His  holy  name,  and 
that  the  Temple  might  sound  from  morning."  ^  Thus 
it  is,  that  while  our  Service  witnesseth  for  the  wisdom 
of  ancient  Christendom,  and  comes  to  us  instinct  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Ritual  of  Western  Europe  in  the  olden 
days,  it  also  sanctifies  the  year  with  its  holy  times. 

Again,  the  Service  bears  its  witness  against  the  pre- 
vailing selfishness  of  the  world.  The  first  requisition 
our  Lord  made  of  those  whom  He  invited  to  become 
His  followers  was,  that  they  should  deny  themselves. 
It  was  requiring  the  hardest  struggle  through  which 
the  human  heart  could  pass,  thus  to  lay  aside  its  own 
will  and  the  devotion  to  its  own  interests,  and,  with  a 
philanthropy  which  extends  to  a  suffering  world,  to  go 
forth  willing  to  sacrifice  itself  for  the  benefit  of  others. 
In  the  earnestness  of  worldly  strife  we  forget  the  chain 
which  binds  us  to  those  who  share  the  same  nature  with 
ourselves.  It  rusts  and  decays  in  the  atmosphere  of 
this  sordid  world. 

'  Ecclcs.  xlvii.  3. 


144  THE  CEURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


Now,  it  is  the  object  of  our  faith  to  restore  this,  to 
bid  man  come  out  from  himself,  to  show  him  there  are 
other  and  higher  interests  than  his  own  for  which  to 
live,  and  a  nobler  field  open  to  him  than  the  following 
out  of  his  own  private  ends.  It  is  to  teach  him  to  seek 
not  his  own  but  others'  good. 

And  this  lesson  is  taught  us  through  the  medium  of 
its  Services.  Look  at  the  very  nature  of  its  prayers, 
how  many  of  them  are  for  others,  how  it  looks  through 
the  whole  scale  of  humanity,  and  offers  up  its  petitions 
for  all  men  everywhere.  The  Church  directs  us  to 
pray  for  those  who  rule  over  us  in  spiritual  and  in 
temporal  things ;  for  the  sick  and  the  afflicted ;  for 
travelers  on  the  land  and  on  the  tossing  sea ;  for  father- 
less children  and  widows ;  for  those  who  are  desolate 
and  oppressed ;  and  for  all  who  in  the  weakness  of  their 
nature  are  "  sounding  on  their  dim  and  perilous  way." 
Everything  in  her  Services  teaches  us  to  look  out  of  our- 
selves to  our  risen  Lord,  or  else  to  His  poor  and  deso- 
late children  who  are  scattered  abroad  throughout  this 
evil  world,  that  they  may  be  saved  through  Christ  for- 
ever. 

And  so  we  might  take  the  Services  separately,  and 
sliow  how  each  one  is  characterized  by  the  spirit  of 
broad  and  Catholic  love.  The  only  prayer  which  our 
Lord  Himself  taught  us  to  use — that  which  bears  His 
name — is  throughout  in  the  plural  number.  And  how 
does  the  petition,  "  Thy  Kingdom  come,"  cany  us  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  our  own  particular  Church  or  coun- 
try, breaking  down  the  narrow  barriers  of  nationality, 
and  inspiring  us  with  great  thoughts  of  that  happy 
period  pictured  by  the  prophets,  when  every  heart  shall 


LITURGIES.  145 


bow  in  love  to  the  Prince  of  peace,  and  righteousness 
mantle  this  renovated  earth ! 

Above  all,  in  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ,  how  solemn  the  lesson  we  are 
taught  of  our  union,  not  only  with  our  Lord,  but  with 
all  His  true  followers!  We  feel  that  we  are  alike 
members  of  His  mystical  body,  and,  as  St.  Paul  declares, 
"  we  being  many  are  one  bread  and  one  body ;  for  we 
are  all  partakers  of  that  one  body."  ^  We  realize  truly 
the  Communion  of  Saints,  as  we  gather  about  that  Altar 
which  has  been  the  home  of  His  children  since  He  de- 
parted from  the  earth,  and  will  unite  them  all  in  one 
lioly  fellowship,  until  He  comes  again  to  claim  His 
heritage.  Who  can  be  worldly,  or  uncharitable,  or  nar- 
row himself  down  to  paltry  and  selfish  interests,  when 
the  Heavens  seem  opened  to  him,  and  its  magnificent 
rewards  are  almost  within  his  reach,  as  he  joins  with 
Angels  and  Archangels,  and  with  all  the  company  of 
Heaven,  to  laud  and  magnify  the  glorious  name  of  Him 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne ! 

And  still  more  touchingly  is  this  witness  borne  by 
her  commemoration  of  the  dead.  The  world  would 
teach  us  to  forget  them,  that  the  chain  is  broken  which 
bound  us  to  those  who  have  passed  away,  and  when 
ages  have  rolled  between  us,  they  have  obliterated  every 
trace  of  union.  But  the  Church  tells  us  it  is  not  so, 
and  in  the  Festival  of  All-Saints  she  shows  we  have 
fellowship  also  with  the  dead.  Like  the  men  of  Galilee, 
after  the  Ascension,  we  still  stand  upon  the  mountain 
and  look  upward  toward  Heaven,  that  we  may  see  the 
pathway  of  their  glory. 

'  1  Cor.  X.  17. 

7 


146  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

And  this  is  a  feeling  wliicli  to  tlie  Early  Christians 
was  sanctioned  by  the  living  Apostle,  whose  words  were 
yet  fresh  in  their  hearing.  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  gives  the  long  catalogue  of  those  who  had 
died  in  the  faith,  and  commends  them  to  the  converts 
to  whom  he  wrote  as  that  "  great  cloud  of  witnesses  " 
who  were  surrounding  their  path,  seeing  how  they  ran 
the  race  for  Eternal  life.  And  particularly  he  refers  to 
Abel,  the  first  martyr,  and  declares  that  by  the  blood  he 
shed  he  still  speaks  to  them.  Four  thousand  years  had 
indeed  passed  since  he  went  do-svn  to  the  tomb,  its  ear- 
liest fruits  in  this  world  of  sin,  yet  here  we  learn  how 
lasting  is  his  memorial.  With  what  an  eternity  of  du- 
ration his  voice  is  gifted,  as  it  is  borne  down  upon  the 
breath  of  ages !  The  Apostle  speaks  as  if  their  interest 
in  his  example  had  been  as  great  as  that  of  those  who 
lived  in  his  own  generation. 

And  such  continued  to  be  the  feeling  of  the  Early 
Church  toward  the  dead.  In  that  lirst  age  of  the  faith, 
as  indeed  it  has  been  in  every  age,  the  reverence  for 
the  departed  was  associated  with  all  that  was  lofty  and 
elevated  in  man's  character.  Their  union  with  them 
was  not  a  mere  assertion  to  be  repeated  in  the  Creed, 
but  a  real  and  tangible  tie.  And  one  thing  which  gave 
an  intensity  to  this  feeling  was  the  fact  that  it  was  an 
age  of  martyrdom.  This  invested  their  remembrance 
of  the  dead  with  an  interest  which  can  never  be  called 
forth  in  times  of  peace  and  quietness.  The  living  lis- 
tened to  the  words  which  the  departed  had  bequeathed 
to  them,  with  a  more  reverent  awe,  because  they  came 
from  those  who  had  "  fought  the  good  fight,"  and  been 
faithful  to  the  end,  though  they  had  to  give  their  lives 
or  the  faith. 


LITURGIES.  147 


We  can  never  indeed  understand  "  the  Church  of 
the  Apostles,"  or  imagine  the  feelings  with  which  they 
looked  upon  the  dead,  unless  we  realize  the  view  they 
took  of  martyrdom.  It  was  to  them  a  glorious  privilege  to 
be  "  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  Christ's  name." 
The  injunction — "When  they  persecute  you  in  one 
city,  flee  to  another  " — seemed  to  have  no  place  in  their 
remembrance.  Some,  who  had  themselves  suffered  in 
a  fearful  persecution,  writing  to  St.  Cyprian,  refer  to 
the  tragical  endings  of  their  friends  as  "  the  glorious, 
we  will  not  say,  deaths,  but  immortalities  of  martyrs."  * 

And  this  was  the  spirit  of  St.  Cyprian  himself,  when, 
as  Bishop  of  Carthage,  he  was  called  to  face  danger  and 
death.  When  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  had  been 
condemned  to  an  exile  which  before  long  was  to  end  in 
martyrdom,  St.  Cyprian  writes  to  him.  Were  those 
words  of  sympathy  which  he  sent  across  the  Mediter- 
ranean ?  Nay,  rather  of  congratulation  for  the  sufferer 
and  triumph  for  himself,  that  he,  too,  was  a  member  of 
the  persecuted  Church  :  "  We  have  been  made  acquaint- 
ed, dearest  brother,  with  the  glorious  testimonies  of  your 
faith  and  courage,  and  have  received  with  such  exul- 
tation the  honor  of  your  confession,  that  we  count 
ourselves  also  sharers  and  companions  in  merits  and 
praises." " 

And  again  in  his  Epistle  to  some  who  for  a  year 
liad  been  suffering  in  prison  for  the  faith,  St.  Cyprian 
thus  runs  the  parallel  between  the  seasons  of  the  year 
and  their  lives.  We  copy  it  entire,  not  only  for  the 
tone  which  pervades  it,  but  also  for  its  singular  elo- 
quence :  "  Behold,  the  heavenly  dignity  in  you  is  sealed 

'  St.  Cyp.,  Epis.  XXV.  ^  gj  Cyp,^  Epis.  Ivi. 


148  THE  CnURCE  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

hj  the  brightness  of  a  year's  honor,  and  abeadj,  in  the 
continuance  of  its  victorious  glory,  has  passed  over  the 
rolling  circle  of  the  returning  year.  The  rising  sun  and 
the  waning  moon  enlightened  the  world ;  but  to  you, 
He  who  made  the  sun  and  moon  was  a  greater  light  in 
your  dungeon,  and  the  brightness  of  Christ  glowing  in 
your  hearts  and  minds  irradiated  with  that  eternal  and 
brilliant  light  the  gloom  of  the  place  of  punishment, 
which  to  others  was  so  horrible  and  deadly.  The  win- 
ter has  passed  through  the  vicissitudes  of  the  months  ; 
but  you,  shut  up  in  prison,  were  undergoing,  instead  of 
the  inclemencies  of  winter,  the  winter  of  persecution. 
To  the  winter  succeeded  the  mildness  of  spring,  rejoic- 
ing with  roses,  and  crowned  with  flowers ;  but  to  you 
were  present  roses  and  flowers  from  the  delights  of 
Paradise,  and  celestial  garlands  wreathed  your  brows. 
Behold,  the  summer  is  fruitful  with  the  fertility  of  the 
harvest,  and  the  thrashing-floor  is  filled  with  grain ;  but 
you  who  have  sown  glory,  reap  the  fniit  of  glory,  and, 
placed  in  the  Lord's  thrashing-floor,  behold  the  chaflE 
burned  up  with  unquenchable  fire ;  you  yourselves  as 
grains  of  wheat,  winnowed  with  precious  com,  now 
purged  and  garnered,  regard  the  dwelling-place  of  a 
prison  as  your  granary.  Nor  is  there  wanting  to  the 
autumn  spiritual  grace  for  discharging  the  duties  of  the 
season.  The  vintage  is  pressed  out-of-doors,  and  the 
grape  which  shall  hereafter  flow  into  the  cups  is  trod- 
den in  the  presses.  You,  rich  bunches  out  of  the  Lord's 
vineyard,  and  branches  with  fruit  already  ripe,  trodden 
by  the  tribulation  of  worldly  pressure,  fill  your  wine- 
press in  the  torturing  prison,  and  shed  your  blood  in- 
stead of  wine ;  brave  to  bear  suffering,  you  willingly 


LITURGIES.  149 


drink  the  cup  of  martyrdom.  Thus  the  year  rolls  on 
with  the  Lord's  servants  ;  thus  are  celebrated  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  seasons  with  spiritual  deserts,  and  with 
celestial  rewards."  ^ 

All  this  to  us  is  only  a  distant  picture,  seen  through 
the  dimness  of  fifteen  hundred  years,  but  to  those  then 
living  it  was  a  fearful  reality.  The  men  of  that  gen- 
eration realized,  as  we  cannot,  the  heroic  seK-devotion 
which  marked  the  painful  entrance  of  these  combatants 
into  the  mansions  of  their  Father's  glory.  They  knew, 
too,  that  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the 
Church."  "We  find,  therefore,  a  glory  gathered  around 
the  memory  of  the  martyrs  which  could  never  be  claimed 
for  the  heroes  of  this  world's  conflicts,  and  the  Church 
now  remembers  them  in  her  most  solemn  anthem,  when 
she  declares,  "  The  noble  army  of  martyrs  praise 
Thee!" 

In  all  the  ancient  Liturgies,  indeed,  there  was  a 
prayer  "  commemorative  of  the  faithful  departed," 
which,  at  the  Eeformation,  was  omitted  from  our 
Prayer-Book  for  fear  it  would  give  countenance,  in  the 
minds  of  the  uneducated,  to  the  prayers  for  the  dead 
which  formed  one  error  of  the  Eoman  Eitual.  It  was 
in  these  words,  and,  as  will  be  at  once  perceived,  was 
only  an  affectionate  remembrance  of  those  who  had 
slept  in  the  faith:  "We  commend  unto  Thy  mercy,  O 
Lord,  all  other  Thy  servants  which  are  departed  hence 
from  us  with  the  sign  of  faith,  and  now  do  rest  in  the 
sleep  of  peace.  Grant  unto  them,  we  beseech  Thee, 
Thy  mercy  and  everlasting  peace,  and  that,  at  the  day 
of  the  general  resurrection,  we,  and  all  they  which  be 

'  St.  Cyp.,  Epis.  XV. 


150  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  the  mystical  body  of  Thy  Son,  may  altogether  be  set 
at  his  right  hand,  and  hear  that  His  most  joyful  voice  : 
'  Come  unto  me,  O  ye  that  be  blessed  of  my  Father, 
and  possess  the  kingdom  which  is  prepared  for  you  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world ! '  Grant  this,  O  Father,  for 
Jesus  Christ's  sake,  our  only  Mediator  and  Advocate." 

And  how  much  in  accordance  with  every  feeling 
of  our  nature  is  this  witness  of  the  Church  to  our  union 
with  the  dead  !  It  recognizes  a  tie  binding  us  to  them 
of  which  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  divest  ourselves.  In 
our  goings  out  and  our  comings  in,  when  we  rise  and 
when  we  lie  down,  everywhere  the  thoughtful  mind 
finds  itself  in  immediate  contact  with  those  who  have 
already  passed  the  thi*eshold  of  the  Infinite  and  entered 
the  unknown  Eternity. 

They  speak  to  us  by  their  works.  We  are  surround- 
ed by  the  evidences  of  their  existence.  Everything 
which  we  have  we  owe  to  them.  In  science,  and  lit- 
erature, and  art,  they  prepared  the  way  and  wrought 
out  all  their  discoveries,  and  when  the  long  course  of 
ages  had  perfected  these,  we  came  to  enjoy  them.  "  We 
reap  that  whereon  we  bestowed  no  labor:  other  men 
labored,  and  we  are  entered  into  their  labors."  *  Our 
own  life  here  is  but  a  span — too  short  to  accomplish 
much  for  ourselves — and  well,  therefore,  is  it  for  us, 
that  the  dead  have  been  before  us  and  toiled  for  our 
benefit.  IIow  different  in  tliis  respect  is  our  situation 
from  that  of  the  first  man  who  lived  upon  the  earth  ! 
Around  him  all  was  in  its  primeval  freshness,  and  he 
saw  no  traces  of  other  beings  like  himself.  He  inherit- 
ed nothing,  no  records  of  experience,  no  beaten  path  in 

•  John  iv.  38. 


LITURGIES,  151 


wliicli  lie  could  tread,  no  footsteps  to  guide  him,  not 
even  a  grave  to  show  that  others  had  preceded  him  in 
the  race  of  life.  He  stood  alone.  He  was  the  first  of 
that  long  procession  of  human  beings  who  were  to  be- 
queath to  us  the  result  of  all  their  efforts — how  they 
prospered  and  how  they  fell — their  trials  and  successes 
as  Hfe  went  on. 

And  that  chain  has  gone  on,  each  generation  con- 
tributing its  share  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  come 
after,  until  it  has  reached  our  day.  But  is  there  not 
something  sublime  in  this  view  of  human  life,  this 
union  of  the  past  and  the  future,  this  tie  which  links 
men  together  in  one  mighty  fellowship  %  They  who 
went  before  us  laid  the  foundation  of  that  vast  edifice, 
which  through  ages  has  beeu  gradually  rising  in  power 
and  strength ;  and  when  they  were  called  away  from 
their  labors,  others  of  this  common  brotherhood  who 
succeeded  them  took  up  the  implements  of  labor  which 
they  had  dropped,  and  built  on  where  they  had  been 
forced  to  leave  off,  until  at  length  they  too  ceased  from 
their  work.  And  thus  the  task  came  to  us,  that  we 
also  might  do  our  share.  We  are  to  contribute  our  por- 
tion toward  the  welfare  of  our  race,  that  when  we  have 
gone  we  may  not  have  lived  in  vain  for  those  who 
come  after.  Thus  it  is,  then,  that  from  the  distant  past, 
from  the  populous  centuries  that  have  gone,  there 
comes  to  us  a  solemn  and  mysterious  sound,  which  is 
their  voice.  The  earth  is  filled  with  their  memories, 
and  in  each  moment  of  busy,  eager,  craving  life,  we  are 
brought  in  contact  with  the  records  of  the  dead.  Well, 
then,  may  they  find  a  place  in  the  devotions  of  the 
Chm-ch!" 


152  THE  CEURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

But  there  are  more  tender  and  touching  memories 
than  these.  There  are  the  memorials  of  those  who  are 
not  separated  from  us  by  distant  ages,  but  who  have 
gone  from  our  very  midst.  Peacefully  are  they  sleej)- 
ing  in  the  populous  cities  of  the  dead,  for  the  sphere 
of  life  is  narrow  compared  with  the  mighty  confines  of 
the  dead.  They  need  no  care,  for  their  spirits  are  with 
God,  and  their  bodies  are  committed  to  Him  who  cares 
even  for  the  dust  of  His  saints.  Winter  storms  sweep 
above  them,  but  they  heed  them  not ;  spring  with  its 
flowers,  and  autumn  with  its  golden  pomp,  pass  by, 
but  they  wake  no  consciousness  in  the  silent  sleepers 
below.  The  sunbeams  fall  brightly  upon  their  graves, 
but  they  shall  see  no  light  until  the  last  morning  calls 
them  again  from  the  dust ;  and  there  they  silently  await 
our  coming. 

But  by  how  many  ways  do  they  speak  to  us !  One 
by  one  they  have  passed  away,  and  perhaps  not  until 
they  were  gone  forever  did  we  realize  their  worth,  or 
feel  that  we  had  not  prized  them  as  we  should ;  then 
there  flowed  back  upon  the  mind  remembered  acts  of 
kindness  and  words  of  affection,  until  the  very  tones 
seemed  to  linger  in  our  hearing,  and  forms  which  now 
are  dust  stood  before  us  in  all  the  well-known  linea- 
ments of  life.  Thus  it  is  that  the  dead  are  united  to 
us  by  the  chain  of  memory,  which  mns  back  to  what 
they  once  were,  and  they  speak  to  us  in  our  firesides 
and  in  our  chambers,  so  that  we  realize  that,  though 
invisible,  life  itself  is  filled  with  their  presence.  The 
world  around,  with  all  its  familiar  scenes,  becomes  con- 
secrated by  the  memory  of  the  dead.  "  The  communion 
of  saints  "  gives  a  holy  imaginativeness  to  our  daily  hfe. 


LITURGIES.  153 


Is  it  not  well,  then,  thus  with  reverence,  when  we 
offer  up  our  prayers  in  God's  house,  to  remember  the 
dead  ?  It  is  not  a  subject  of  mere  speculation  or  of 
sentiment  alone ;  it  is  one  of  practical  use,  which  can 
give  a  coloring  to  our  daily  life.  The  times  are  be- 
coming intensely  worldly.  Day  by  day  the  crowds 
around  us  seem  to  be  waxing  more  earnest  in  the  pur- 
suit of  wealth,  and  the  sound  of  their  exertions  rises 
up  with  ceaseless  din.  Is  it  not  well,  then,  to  avail 
ourselves  of  any  arguments  which  will  break  these 
associations  and  connect  us  with  the  spiritual  world  ? 
And  what  can  do  it  so  effectually  as  this  remembrance 
of  the  dead  ?  They  are  ever  passing  away,  and  there- 
fore the  appeal  is  constantly  recurring.  Year  by  year, 
as  familiar  faces  depart,  comes  to  us  the  proof  that 
here  we  are  only  strangers  and  pilgrims.  Our  treasures 
have  gone  before  us,  and  thus  time  is  ever  strengthen- 
ing the  ties  which  bind  us  to  the  spiritual  world.  The 
departed  are  remembered  among  the  holiest  associa- 
tions of  the  past.  "  In  memory  of  the  dead  "  is  the 
highest  consecration  which  language  can  give.  They 
are  not  dead  to  us,  but  are  still  near  and  familiar 
friends.  They  are  to  us  "  a  presence  and  a  power  ;  "  a 
thousand  things  in  the  pilgrimage  of  life  are  touched 
by  our  association  with  them,  as  if  by  a  quickening 
spirit,  and  we  never  go  to  the  Altar  of  our  Lord  with- 
out remembering  them,  when  we  "  bless  God's  holy 
name  for  all  His  servants  departed  this  life  in  His 
faith  and  fear,  and  beseech  Him  to  give  us  grace  so  to 
follow  their  good  examples,  that  with  them  we  may  be 
partakers  of  His  heavenly  kingdom." 

For  us,  too,  the  very  Burial  Service  has  its  solemn 


154  THE  CHUECH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

comfort,  as  it  sublimely  refers  forward  to  the  liour 
when  Christ  shall  come  again,  and  the  slumbering  dead 
be  raised  to  meet  Ilim.  And  the  elevating  truths  of 
Scripture  are  gifted  with  a  new  meaning  to  our  hearts, 
when  those  hearts  have  been  touched  with  sorrow.  We 
rejoice,  as  it  lays  open  to  us  the  precious  glories  which 
await  the  just,  and  follow  on  its  revelations  as  they  rise, 
steadily  and  calmly,  clear  as  the  angel's  trumpet  of 
which  they  tell,  until  they  merge  into  the  sound  of  tri- 
umph and  of  victory,  and  we  hear  echoing  through  our 
desolate  homes  those  cheering  words  of  blessing  and 
encouragement :  "  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sor- 
row not,  even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For  if  we 
believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  them  also 
which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Ilim." 

We  see,  then,  how  the  Church  by  her  Services  takes 
hold  of  this  trait  in  our  nature  and  uses  it  for  our  own 
spiritual  benefit.  We  ask:  "  Where  are  the  departed  ? 
Where  are  the  confessors  and  martyrs  of  early  days  ? 
Wliere  are  the  just  who  since  their  time  have  passed 
away  from  the  sight  of  earthly  eyes?  Is  it  possible 
that  we  are  no  longer  inhabitants  of  the  same  world, 
but  that  each  has  to  think  of  the  other  in  a  perfectly 
different  state  of  existence  ?  Is  the  link  wliich  bound 
us  together  broken,  or  are  they  still  conscious  of  what 
we  are  doing  here,  and  indulge  in  the  confident  antici- 
pation that  we  shall  after  a  time  be  added  to  their 
society  ? "  The  answer  is :  "  They  are  still  with  the 
Church,  though  invisible.  They  are  *  under  the  altar,' 
and  thence,  as  the  Apostle  shows  us,Vthey  raise  their 

»  Rev.  vi.  0. 


LITURGIES.  155 


voices  to  Ilim  who  is  the  God  both  of  the  dead  and  of 
the  living.  '  They  have  gone  nearer  Christ  than  we 
are.  They  see  greater  things  than  we  see.  They  are 
safe  from  the  world,  which  we  are  hot.'  With  them 
the  toils  and  sorrows  of  this  world  are  over,  and  as  they 
look  back  upon  them,  now  that  they  have  secured  their 
bliss,  they  must  realize  in  all  its  fullness  the  lesson  con- 
tained in  that  noble  line  of  the  poet — 

'  The  glory  dies  not  and  the  grief  is  past.'  '^ 

Thus  we  have  "  come  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,"  who,  though  absent  in  body,  are  yet 
present  in  spirit.  And  when  we  worship  in  our  earthly 
temples,  small  is  the  company  of  the  living  compared 
with  the  invisible  congregation  of  the  dead.  They  have 
only  passed  before  us,  the  first  ranks  of  the  Church, 
united  still  to  us  their  brctlu'cn.  One  by  one  the 
Church  commemorates  the  leaders  in  "  the  sacramental 
host  of  God's  elect,"  the  Apostles  of  our  Lord ;  and  of- 
ten does  she  refer,  as  we  have  shown,  to  those  avIio  were 
their  followers.  Thus  it  is  that  the  Church  opens  our 
sphere  of  vision  even  beyond  the  bounds  of  this  world, 
and  teaches  us,  too,  to  overcome  our  selfishness. 

We  have  had  occasion,  in  these  pages,  in  several  in- 
stances, to  refer  to  that  Great  Eastern  Church,  of  which, 
with  its  sixty-five  millions  of  souls,  we  know  so  little, 
and  about  which  we  so  often,  from  our  ignorance,  speak 
so   disparagingly.'     In   concluding  these   sketches,  we 

'  In  a  late  speech  by  Canon  Liddon,  in  London,  he  thus  refers  to  the 
Oriental  Church  :  "  The  Eastern  Church  fares  hardly  at  the  hands  of  the 
Europeans  of  the  West.  Rome  cannot  forgive  the  rejection  of  her  au- 
thority; those  who  are  farthest  from  Rome  cannot  forgive  the  sacra- 
mental characteristics  of  this  ancient  communion.     Doubtless  there  are 


156  TUB  CJIURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

would  give  one  more  illustration  from  the  Liturgical 
Services  of  that  Oriental  Church,  to  show  the  power 
which  these  forms  must  exert  in  impressing  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  their  people.  We  wish  to  bring  before 
our  readers  a  picture  of  the  Rites  and  Services  with 
which,  in  those  Eastern  lands,  they  accompany  the 
burial  of  the  dead,  that  they  may  see  how  this  liitual, 
which  has  come  down  through  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  inculcates  the  most  lofty  truths  of  our  faith.* 

By  their  Services  for  the  departed,  Death  is  made 
the  teacher  of  the  living,  and  compelled  to  bear  with 
him  the  tidings  of  his  o^vn  defeat,  proclaiming,  wher- 
ever he  goes,  that  his  sting  has  been  taken  from  him. 
Thus  the  child  learns  the  awful  truth  of  his  future  exist- 
ence from  the  corpse  of  the  parent,  who,  living,  would 
never  have  taught  it  to  him ;  and  the  dead  infant, 
whose  feeble  lips  had  not  yet  power  to  frame  the  first 
faint  stammering  word,  preaches  with  a  terrible  elo- 

featurcs  in  her  system  which  we  might  wish  to  see  changed ;  but  when 
that  Church  has  had  freedom,  she  has  shown  her  capacity  for  missionary 
kbor  of  the  noblest  kind.  It  might  seem,  too,  as  if  God  had  assigned  to 
different  parts  of  His  great  family  the  duty  of  illustrating  different  aspects 
of  the  Christian  life.  Rome  manifested  the  beauty  and  power  of  high 
organization  ;  England  maintained  and  exhibited  the  sacred  rights  of  the 
individual  conscience ;  Western  Christendom,  in  its  various  forms,  illus- 
trated the  active  and  creative  side  of  Christianity,  its  progress  and  its  ag- 
gressiveness ;  to  the  Eastern  Church  has  been  confided  the  duty  of  show- 
ing by  persistent  endurance  the  excellence  of  the  passive  virtues.  For 
four  hundred  years  it  might  be  said  by  them,  *  Therefore  we  both  labor 
and  suffer  reproach,  because  we  trust  in  the  living  God,  who  i9  the 
Saviour  of  all  men,  especially  of  those  that  believe.' " 

*  For  the  graphic  view  of  these  Services  the  writer  would  acknowledge 
his  indebtedness  to  the  Christian  Remembrancer,  April,  1850.  Of  course 
these  Services  can  only  be  seen  in  their  fullness  in  lands  in  the  East  in 
which  the  Greek  Church  is  dominant. 


LITURGIES.  157 


quence,  to  the  men  grown  old  in  sin,  of  the  life  and  the 
judgment  to  come. 

In  those  Eastern  homes  scarce  is  the  last  agony  over 
when  the  salutation  of  peace  is  heard  upon  the  threshold, 
and  the  servant  of  the  Church  appears  to  watch  over  her 
departed  child.  Most  often  it  is  the  priest  himself  who 
has  received  the  dying  breath,  and  given  the  last  abso- 
lution ;  but  at  least  he  has  been  there  to  anoint  the  ab- 
solved penitent  with  holy  oil,  and  celebrate  on  his  behalf 
the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice.  And  now  the  dead  body, 
made  sacred  by  these  rites,  has  become  exclusively  the 
Church's  care,  and  from  the  moment  that  the  priest  ap- 
pears in  presence  of  the  corpse,  the  friends  retire  to  per- 
form the  only  work  which  yet  remains  for  them,  in 
prayer  and  intercession.  He  enters,  the  neophyte  pre- 
ceding him  with  the  cross,  and  standing,  while  he  signs 
the  corpse  with  the  threefold  sign,  he  utters  a  brief 
prayer.  And,  ever  as  he  speaks,  he  fills  the  room  with 
clouds  of  fragrant  incense,  ascending  up  like  the  suppli- 
cations of  the  Saints,  that  wait  in  their  white  robes  till 
their  brethren  shall  be  fulfilled. 

But  not  long  does  he  linger  there,  nor  allow  this 
member  of  the  great  family  of  Christ — who  now  by 
his  death  has  entered  into  visible  communion  with  the 
Church  triumphant — to  remain  among  these  strangers 
of  the  earth.  When  himself  has  closed  the  eyes,  and 
sealed  them  with  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man,  until  that 
day  when,  opening  at  His  call,  they  shall  behold  Christ 
glorious  in  the  heavens,  he  bids  the  people  raise  his 
sleeping  charge  and  bear  it  forth  to  the  Church,  the 
antechamber  of  that  grave  which  is  the  door  of  Heaven. 
Thus,  not  above  an  hour  or  two  after  the  moment  of 


158  THE  CHURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

death,  the  corpse  is  carried  to  that  holj  place  which  is 
now  alone  his  home  on  earth ;  and  then  it  is  that,  by  the 
sure  tokens  of  the  sweet  death-chant  and  the  comini?  of 
the  Cross,  the  dwellers  of  the  Eastern  city  know  that 
one  is  passing  from  among  them  to  his  rest.  Yet  truly 
to  their  eyes  it  still  must  seem  rather  a  march  trium- 
phant than  a  funeral-train,  for  there  is  no  gloom,  no  dis- 
mal pomp,  no  black  pall,  hiding,  as  it  were,  some  sight 
of  shame ;  but  only  that  music  glad  with  holy  hope,  and 
the  breath  of  flowers  mingling  with  the  sweeter  incense, 
and,  ever  caught  up  from  voice  to  voice,  the  deep,  exult- 
ing cry :  "  Thou  art  the  Resurrection ;  Thou,  O  Christ ! " 
Long  before  the  procession  comes  in  sight,  throiigh 
the  busy,  crowded  streets,  they  hear,  floating  through 
the  clear  air,  soft  and  wild  as  the  music  of  a  dream,  the 
low,  faint  murmur  of  a  mom-nful  harmony.  It  is  a 
strain  peculiar  as  it  is  melodious,  most  strangely  sweet 
and  sad,  and  so  utterly  unlike  all  other  melodies  that 
none  ever  yet  heard  it  and  failed  to  recognize  the  glo- 
rious old  death-chant  which  for  so  many  centuries  has 
been  the  lullaby  with  which  the  Eastern  Chi'istians  hav( 
sung  their  dead  to  sleep.  It  is  a  noble  song  of  Victory 
— the  victory  of  the  Cross  over  Death  and  Hell — the 
triumph  of  the  Holy  One,  who  was  dead  and  is  alive, 
over  the  corruption  He  was  never  suffered  to  behold. 
It  is  ancient  beyond  all  memory  of  man — a  whisi^cr 
which  has  echoed  down  through  the  crash  and  turmoil 
of  the  passing  centuries,  from  those  first  days  of  purity, 
when  the  one  Church  Catholic  was  still  unrent  by  the 
sore  divisions  of  these  last-afflicted  times.  Age  after 
age,  while  the  great  monarchies  have  been  swept  away, 
leaving  behind  a  scaree-renicmbcred  name,  and  genera- 


LITURGIES.  159 


tions  successively  have  nislied  past  that  dark  brink  that 
biuds  our  mortal  view,  unchanging  over  the  individual 
dead,  those  time-honored  words  have  uttered  one  sacred, 
unfailing  promise,  as  earnest  to  an  ever-living  hope. 
And  as  the  well-known  strain  of  wailing  sweetness 
penetrates  among  the  busy  crowds,  each  one  desists 
with  eager  haste  from  his  employment  to  listen  to  the 
good  tidings  it  conveys.  Clear  and  distinct  that  an- 
them of  the  Resurrection  is  intoned  by  the  deep  voices 
of  the  priests,  in  words  so  simple,  and  yet  so  powerful, 
that  the  most  ignorant  among  the  people  cannot  fail  to 
gather  and  to  understand  the  wondrous  meaning ;  while 
answering  back,  in  tones  more  pure  and  thrilling  still, 
the  sweet  voices  of  the  youthful  neophytes  take  up  the 
chorus,  of  which  the  burden  is  ever  how  man  through 
death  attains  to  life  eternal ! 

Then,  far  and  near,  wherever  those  words  of  prom- 
ise, like  an  angel's  voice,  are  heard,  each  individual  bows 
his  head,  and  signs  himself  on  breast  and  brow  with 
the  Holy  Cross,  which  alone  can  be  his  passport  to  the 
land  of  deathless  joy,  while,  with  earnest  supplication, 
as  the  truth  of  Eternity  is  thus  palpably  brought  before 
him,  he  utters  the  appointed  ejaculation :  "  Lord,  have 
mercy  upon  us  !     Christ,  have  mercy  upon  us  !  " 

So  universally  are  these  observances  inculcated  on 
all  who  witness  the  journeying  homeward  of  a  corpse, 
that  the  very  little  infants  are  seen  with  their  tiny 
hands  striving  to  make  the  sacred  sign,  as  yet  so  far  be- 
yond their  comprehension,  and  murmuring  with  their 
stammering  lips  the  early-taught  petition. 

Then  all  reverently  stand  aside,  with  head  uncov- 
ered, as  the  funeral  appears  in  the  distance.     The  con- 


IGO  TUE  CUURCU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

vejing  of  the  body  to  the  church,  which  is  the  first 
part  of  the  ceremonial,  is  most  often  perfonned  at  sun- 
set, for  they  love  that  the  pale  glory  of  the  dying  day 
should  rest  upon  the  face  where  the  light  of  life  hath 
faded ;  and  thus  it  mostly  happens  that  the  last  sunbeam 
flashes  with  its  expiring  radiance  full  upon  the  lofty 
cross  that  first  meets  the  eye  as  the  procession  comes  in 
sight.  It  is  borne  several  paces  in  advance,  carried  up- 
right by  a  young  child,  the  youngest  of  the  neophytes 
— for  the  Eastern  Church,  with  a  touching  humility, 
ever  appointed  in  all  her  offices  that  none  should  be 
permitted  to  the  high  office  of  Cross-bearer  save  only 
these  little  ones,  of  whom  is  the  Kingdom  of  Ileaven. 
Their  innocent  hands  alone  shall  presume  to  touch  that 
sacred  token — ^holier  in  their  innocence,  as  they  believe, 
than  even  those  of  the  anointed  priest ;  for  they  think 
that  those  tender  lambs,  newly  washed  in  the  baptismal 
waters,  have  more  than  any  others  been  made  Kings 
and  Priests  unto  God  and  His  Father.  Three  young 
children,  then,  walk  solemnly  in  front,  the  one  clasping 
the  great  cross  within  his  folded  arms,  and  bending  down 
his  head  behind  it  with  humble  reverence,  so  that  at  a 
distance  it  seems  self-impelled  through  the  air,  while, 
on  either  side  of  him,  his  two  companions  bear  the 
symbols  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  which  are  painted  in  signs 
easily  understood,  on  circular  panels,  elevated  on  long 
poles.  The  tliree  neophytes,  according  to  invariable 
rule,  have  their  heads  uncovered,  so  that  their  long, 
flowing  hair  falls  on  their  shoulders  and  veils  the  down- 
cast eyes  they  never  raise.  It  is  a  touching  thing  to  see 
them  thus  on  the  threshold  of  life  marshaling  with  such 
reverence  and  solemnity  an  elder  brother  to  the  tomb. 


LITURGIES.  161 


Immediately  beliind  them  walk  the  priests,  who, 
from  the  first  moment  the  mortal  breath  departed,  have 
come  forward  as  guardians  of  that  heir  of  immortality, 
and  have  allowed  no  hand  but  theirs,  the  anointed  of 
the  Lord,  to  minister  unto  his  last  necessity.  So  soon 
as,  by  the  mighty  barrier  of  death,  he  was  exiled  from 
his  family,  from  the  love  of  friends,  and  the  sweet  chari- 
ties of  home,  then  has  the  Church  opened  wide  her 
arms  to  receive  him,  and  gathered  him,  like  a  jealous 
mother,  to  her  own  loving  care. 

There  are  never  less  than  three  or  four  priests  ac- 
companying each  funeral,  for  among  the  Eastern  Chris- 
tians the  distinctions  of  rank  and  station  cease  with  this 
mortal  life.  These  holy  men  walk  abreast,  heralding 
the  corpse,  and  wearing  the  flowing,  priestly  robes,  which 
they  never  quit  on  any  occasion,  with  one  hand  swing- 
ing to  and  fro  the  silver  censor,  and  with  the  other 
holding  the  book  from  which  they  chant  the  blessed 
words  of  promise  ;  then  treading  closely  in  their  steps, 
even  as  it  is  meet  all  men  should  follow  the  leading  of 
anointed  guides,  the  bearers  of  the  dead  advance.  They 
wear  no  mourning-dress,  for  they  conceive  not  that  is  a 
day  of  mourning,  but,  rather,  one  of  triumph,  and  they 
carry  between  them,  by  the  aid  of  two  long  poles,  an 
open  bier,  covered  only  with  a  fair,  white  cloth. 

And  there,  reposing  calmly,  with  the  sunlight  on 
his  brow,  the  departed  lies  in  holy  rest,  and  ready  to 
meet  the  gaze  of  all.  Never  would  they  hide  from  the 
eyes  of  men  that  countenance  serene,  but  rather  bid  all 
come  to  look  with  thankful  hearts  upon  the  face  of  the 
dead,  for  they  count  him  in  all  things  a  conqueror — 
vanquisher  over  the  mortal  existence  with  all  its  pow- 


162  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

ers  of  agony,  and  over  the  last  enemy,  which  shall  be 
destroyed  with  all  its  nameless  dread.  From  the  death- 
struggle  and  the  life-stmggle  comes  he  forth  alike  tri- 
umphant ;  the  first  shall  appall,  the  last  shall  torture 
him  no  more  ;  therefore,  they  place  upon  his  brow  the 
conqueroi-'s  crown,  and  robe  him  in  the  fairest  dress 
he  ever  wore  on  gala-days,  for  what  high  festival  in 
all  his  past  career  was  like  to  this  ?  AV^hat  was  that 
hour  of  deep  rejoicing,  when  at  the  altar  liis  young 
bride  took  him  by  the  hand,  to  walk  with  him  the  pil- 
grimage of  earth,  compared  to  the  far  brighter  moment 
when  death  clasped  him  still  more  tenderly,  to  lead 
him  forth  into  the  bliss  of  life  etenial  ?  So  shall  no 
mournful  shroud  be  put  upon  him,  but  the  gayest  dress, 
in  token  of  festivity,  with  the  laurel-wreath  of  victory. 
His  arms  are  crossed  upon  his  breast  in  mute,  submis- 
sive faith,  and  clasped  within  them  is  the  representa- 
tion of  our  Lord  upon  the  cross.  As  he  is  borne  along, 
all  press  with  eager  haste  to  look  upon  the  countenance 
of  him  who  truly  is  even  as  they  represent  him,  "  Vic- 
tor atque  victima,  atque  ideo  victor  quia  victima,"  and 
generally  they  follow  him  upon  his  road,  gazing  still, 
fascinated  by  the  aspect  of  his  rest. 

All  who  desire  it  may  accompany  their  departed 
brother  to  the  church,  where  the  corpse  is  reverently 
placed  immediately  before  the  holy  doors,  the  feet 
turned  eastward  and  the  cross  held  upright,  ever  placed 
there  carefully  before  the  fixed,  calm  eyes,  as  though 
the  intensity  of  their  gaze  upon  the  holy  symbol  had 
set  them  in  that  rigid  stillness.  The  deacon  then  lights 
tlie  appointed  number  of  tapers  at  the  head  and  foot  of 
the  bier,  while  every  individual  present  receives  one  in 


LITURGIES.  ((UH I  ^03      ' 


his  Land,  so  that  although  the  sunshine  streai 
the  open  door  and  windows,  the  church  is  yet 
another  softer  radiance,  in  token  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  hath  truly  light  within  her,  which  is  not  that 
of  mortal  day.  The  priests  then  range  themselves 
around  the  corpse,  and  if  there  be  a  Bishop  present,  as 
often  happens,  he  stands  at  tlie  head,  his  hand  upraised 
in  the  appointed  form,  so  that  the  Church's  blessing 
overshadows  still  that  sacred  dead,  who  seems  to  lie  so 
meek  and  tranquil,  because  of  the  holy  power  thus  shed 
upon  him.  The  Service  then  commences  with  the 
chanting  of  the  Psalm  Qid  habitat  (Psalm  xci.)  and 
others,  followed  by  prayers  most  beautiful  and  full  of 
consolation,  ranging  ever  round  the  one  sublime  hope 
of  the  rising  of  the  flesh  in  glory,  as  though  the  Church 
conceived  that  the  very  sight  of  that  corpse  could 
awaken  no  other  thought ;  and  ever  at  the  close  of  each 
the  priest  pauses  for  a  moment,  while  the  voices  of  the 
deacons  and  the  neophytes  take  up  again  the  glad  exult- 
ing cry,  "  Thou  art  the  Resurrection." 

The  lesson  is  then  read,'  beginning  with  the  words, 
*'  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  con- 
cerning them  which  are  asleep,"  and  terminating,  "  and 
so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  When  it  is  over 
there  is  an  interval  of  silence,  although  the  deep  ab- 
straction of  all  present  shows  that  the  voice  of  the  soul 
is  not  hushed  ;  and  then,  at  a  signal  from  the  priest, 
the  friends  of  the  departed  come  forward  one  by  one 
to  press  the  final  kiss  upon  his  lips,  uttering,  at  the  same 
moment  a  stated  prayer,  that  the  whole  body  of  His 
Church  may  soon  be  made  partakers  of  His  glorious 

»  1  Thcss.  iv.  13-17. 


164  THE  CnURGU  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

resurrection.  And  there  is  a  deep  wisdom  in  thus  con- 
necting the  last  expressions  of  mortal  tenderness  witli 
the  aspiration  after  that  holier  love  in  which  all  shall 
be  one  hereafter.  The  calm  farewell  thns  ended,  they 
retire  from  before  the  altar,  the  words  yet  lingering  on 
their  lips  which  speak  of  a  blessed  meeting  with  him 
they  are  now  quitting,  where  they  shall  part  no  more  ; 
the  priest  advances  in  front  of  the  coi'pse  and  delivers 
an  oration  ;  that  taken  from  the  Homily  *  of  St.  John 
Chrysostom,  which  is  chiefly  used  by  the  Eastern  Church 
on  solemn  occasions,  is  beautifully  appropriate. 

As  the  last  words  die  away  in  the  solemn  tones  of 
the  priest,  there  is  a  pause,  and  then,  mingling  in  one 
deep  voice  of  triumph,  once  more  the  cry  arises  from 
every  individual  present,  so  oft  repeated  as  though  they 
could  not  cease  to  tell  their  joy :  "  Thou  art  the  Resur- 
rection ;  Thou,  O  Christ  1 " 

This,  for  the  present,  terminates  the  ceremony. 
The  priest  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross,  first  over  the 
dead,  then  over  the  living,  thus  uniting  them  in  the 
common  hope,  and  so  departs  from  the  church,  fol- 
lowed by  the  whole  concourse  of  the  people,  leaving 
the  corpse  alone  lying  beneath  the  altar— like  the  souls 
that  were  bid  to  rest  a  little  season — the  lights  burning 
round  it  solemnly,  and  the  incense  still  hanging  over  it 
like  a  cloud  of  fragrance.  Thus  the  dead  rests  for  the 
night,  surrounded,  as  the  ancient  faith  declares,  with 
the  holy  angels,  who  linger  forever  round  the  altar. 
At  sunrise  the  priests  return  for  their  charge,  and  the 
train  goes  forth  in  the  same  order  as  before,  and  how- 
ever great  the  distance  from  the  church  to  the  grave- 

'  \oyos  iroLpaiv€Tixos. 


LITURGIES.  165 


yard,  the  priests  cease  not  to  eliant  tlie  hymn  of  immor- 
tality, and  over  the  burning  plains  which  often  they 
traverse,  the  sweet  strain  floats  away  in  distant  echoes, 
making  the  desert  joyful  with  hope. 

In  the  larger  cemeteries  there  is  very  often  a  small 
chapel  especially  consecrated  for  the  "  Missa  pro  De- 
functis,"  but  this  is  not  celebrated  till  thirty  days  after 
the  death.  It  is,  therefore,  to  the  spot  of  interment 
that  the  train  proceeds  at  once,  where  the  priest  takes 
up  his  station  at  the  head  and  the  cross-bearer  at  the  foot 
of  the  grave,  and  ever  as  they  approach,  louder  and  loud- 
er, not  from  the  neophytes  alone,  but  from  all  present, 
swells  the  cry  proclaiming  that  He  is  the  resurrection. 
But  soon  the  voices  are  reverently  hushed,  while  many 
holy  prayers  are  said,  and  at  last  the  deacons,  at  a  sign 
from  the  priests,  lower  the  corpse  into  the  grave,  which 
is  always  very  shallow  ;  then,  while  still  upon  tbe  face 
the  last  ray  of  earthly  light  is  beaming,  the  last  token 
is  ffiven  of  the  human  love  which  was  the  sunshine  of 
his  soul.  The  friend  that  in  life  lay  nearest  to  that 
still  heart — most  often  the  cherished  wife  that  was  the 
faithful  guardian  of  his  happiness — draws  near,  and 
kneels  down  on  the  very  brink  of  his  new  couch,  and 
with  a  voice  of  passionate  entreaty,  into  which  is  gath- 
ered all  the  deep  longing  of  the  widowed  soul,  she 
utters  three  times  the  word  "  Ella,"  come,  and  if  he 
answers  not — if  that  most  mournful  appeal  fails  to  win 
him  from  his  silent  rest,  then  do  they  know  that  he  is 
dead  indeed,  and  far  beyond  all  reach  of  that  poor, 
impotent  affection.  She  withdraws,  the  chief  of  those 
who  loved  him  on  this  eartli,  that  the  representative  of 
love  divine  may  take  her  i)lace.     The  priest  gently  cov- 


166  TUE  CIIURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ers  the  quiet  countenance  with  a  white  veil ;  next  he 
pours  into  the  grave  a  little  wine,  in  type  of  that  which 
he  trusts  the  departed  shall  taste  anew  in  the  kingdom 
of  his  Father  ;  and,  finally,  taking  in  his  own  anointed 
hands  as  much  of  earth  as  they  can  hold,  he  strews  it 
on  the  dead  body  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  uttering  aloud 
these  words,  "  The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness 
thereof  ;  the  round  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein." 

And  truly  replete  with  a  glorious  and  solemn  mean- 
ing is  that  sentence  when  uttered  at  such  a  moment. 
For  if  the  earth  be  the  Lord's  and  ''  the  fullness  there- 
of," full  even  to  repletion  is  it  with  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  which  thus  are  proclaimed  to  be  Ilis,  which  none 
shall  ever  pluck  out  of  His  hand,  but  which  from  their 
dwelling  in  the  dust  shall  awake  and  sing,  when  the 
earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead.  Having  spoken  these 
words,  the  priest  and  deacons  proceed  to  fill  up  the 
grave ;  some  of  the  nearest  relatives  alone  being  allowed 
to  assist  in  this  sacred  office,  and  that  a  hhed  hand 
should  have  a  share  in  it  is  wholly  inadmissible.  As 
the  form  disappears  under  the  earth,  the  friends  press 
forward,  and  each  one  says,  as  he  gives  his  last  look, 
that  which  to  his  great  and  exceeding  comfort  his  heart 
believes,  "  It  is  well  with  thee,  my  brother  I  "  Again, 
over  the  grave  the  holy  sign  is  made,  responded  to  by 
all  around,  and  so  they  depart  and  leave  him  to  his 
rest. 

But  this  is  only  for  a  season.  Most  imlike  the  chill 
and  systematic  oblivion  which  seems  to  overspread  the 
memory  of  those  departed  from  among  ourselves,  every 
effort  is  made  by  the  Eastern  Christians  to  bind,  as  it 
were,  the  living  spirit  to  themselves  more  closely  still 


LITURGIES.  167 


by  holiest  links.  Altliough  lie  liatli  gone  home  a  little 
while  before  them,  his  name  is  on  their  lips  in  every 
prayer,  and  anxiously  do  they  look  forward  to  the  Feast 
of  the  Commemoration,  which  takes  place  on  the  thir- 
tieth day.  Then,  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  celebrated,  and 
afterward  it  is  offered  whenever  the  friends  feel  desir- 
ous to  renew  so  blessed  a  remembrance  of  him,  not  lost, 
although  to  their  eyes  of  flesh  unseen,  and  they  love  on 
such  occasions  to  decorate  the  church  with  flowers,  and 
to  fill  it  with  lights  and  all  things  which  most  betoken 
joy  and  gladness,  so  that  many  even  of  the  little  chil- 
dren, who  may  never  have  seen  the  departed  brother  or 
friend,  are  thus  led  specially  to  connect  death  only  with 
images  of  holy  hope  and  rejoicing  in  the  risen  Lord ; 
nor  can  they  ever  dread  it  as  the  enemy  that  shall  shut 
them  out  from  the  love  of  those  to  whom  their  own 
hearts  cling.  For  ever,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  de- 
parture, the  survivors  fail  not  to  repair  to  the  grave 
where  they  have  hid  their  treasures,  and  there  kneeling 
down,  they  press  a  fond,  clinging  Idss  upon  the  earth 
that  covers  them,  and  whispering  the  well-remembered 
and  beloved  name,  they  bid  him  have  patience  yet  a 
little  till  they  come,  and  assure  him,  with  many  a  soft, 
endearing  word,  that  he  is  not  forgotten,  but  that  faith- 
fully they  love  him  still. 

Such  is  the  lesson  taught  by  this  ancient  Eitual. 
Death  is  seen  no  longer  as  the  King  of  Terrors  and  the 
destroying  enemy,  but  himself  the  slave  and  laborer  of 
that  Mercy  which  doth  bless  in  life  eternal ;  constrained 
by  the  very  power  which  seems  to  annihilate  and  kill, 
to  fit  the  children  of  the  kingdom  for  an  existence 
which  is  never-ending  joy,  and  with  his  own  hand  to 


168  THE  CnURCn  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

lead  them  through  the  tomb  where  he  hath  no  power  to 
hold  them,  as  through  an  open  portal,  to  the  glory  of 
the  never-fading  day.  Even  as  of  old  the  captives  were 
compelled  to  tell  out  the  great  deeds  of  their  conquer- 
ors, so  should  this  vanquished  and  stingless  Death  for- 
ever proclaim  aloud  the  victory  of  the  resurrection.  As 
the  herald  of  immortality  he  appears  before  men ;  as  the 
gentle  Messenger  sent  by  the  Lord  of  Life,  to  gather 
with  gentle  pity  into  His  merciful  arms  the  poor  wan- 
derers exiled  into  this  sad  world  of  weeping,  and  safely 
lead  them  homeward  to  their  Father's  house ! 

How  high  and  holy  then  is  the  doctrine  taught  by 
the  Eastern  Church  through  its  Burial  Service !  It  is 
that  the  one  holy  office  which  Death  should  perfonn  in 
this  world  is,  to  sit,  robed  in  garments  of  celestial  white, 
at  the  door  of  man's  Universal  Tomb,  in  likeness  of 
that  glorious  angel  who  once  rolled  back  the  stone  from 
the  gate  of  the  Sepulchre,  and  sat  thereon.  And  to  all 
who  come  there  seeking  their  beloved  and  weeping,  as 
she  came  and  wept  who  loved  much,  this  angelic  Death, 
in  tones  as  sweet  as  was  the  voice  of  that  bright  Messen- 
ger, says  gently :  "  Why  seek  ye  here  the  living  among 
the  dead  ?  He  is  risen,  and  therefore  all  they  that  sleep 
in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him ! " 


V. 
CONOLXJSION. 


'The  golden  evening  brightens  in  tlic  west; 
Soon,  soon  to  faithful  warriors  eomes  the  rest ; 
Sweet  is  the  calm  of  Paradise  the  blest." 

W.  W.  How. 


CONCLUSION 


We  have  tlms  endeavored  to  present  our  readers 
with  a  picture  of  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  its  doc- 
trine, fellowship,  breaking  of  bread,  and  prayers.  Not, 
indeed,  merely  to  gratify  curiosity  have  we  tlms  un- 
rolled the  records  of  the  past,  and  summoned  up,  over 
the  wastes  of  eighteen  centuries,  the  testimony  of  these 
ancient  believers.  Our  object  was  to  give,  even  in  this 
fragmentaiy  form,  a  glimpse  of  the  ancient  Church,  as 
it  stood  before  the  world  in  its  Unity,  pure  in  doc- 
trine, reverencing,  in  its  ceaseless  worship,  the  Sacra- 
ments of  its  Lord,  and  ever  sending  up  those  holy  words 
of  prayer  which  we  have  now  inherited. 

The  picture  carries  with  it  its  own  solemn  lesson. 
Involuntarily  we  feel  the  contrast  between  those  early 
times  of  earnest  faith,  and  the  worldliness  of  these  lat- 
ter days.  It  requires  no  voice  of  an  inspired  prophet 
to  show  how  far  we  have  wandered  from  the  example 
of  those  who  stood  nearest  to  the  days  of  our  Lord's 
pilgrimage  on  earth.  From  our  own  times  we  gather 
but  little  material  to  add  to  the  sacred  record  of  the 
Acta  Sanctorum. 

There  is  a  legend  of  the  Eastern  Church  which, 
fable  as  it  is,  may  give  a  speaking  warning  to  the  fol- 


172  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

lowers  of  our  Lord  "  through  the  ages  all  along."  It 
is  the  story  of  the  seven  Christian  youths  of  Ephesus, 
who  in  one  of  the  later  persecutions  of  the  third  cen- 
tury fled  from  the  city  and  took  refuge  in  a  cavern  in 
the  neighboring  mountains.  There  they  fell  asleep, 
and  by  a  miracle  their  slumber  was  prolonged  till  more 
than  a  century  had  passed ;  then  they  awoke,  and  un- 
conscious of  the  flight  of  time,  or  that  their  sleep  had 
lasted  beyond  a  single  night,  they  cautiously  retui'ned 
to  the  city. 

But  everything  seemed  changed.  New  buildings 
had  arisen,  and  the  whole  aspect  of  the  once  familiar 
streets  w\as  altered.  The  very  air  and  manner  of 
the  people  wxre  difierent ;  and,  feeling  as  if  they 
were  walking  in  a  dream,  they  secretly  inquired 
whether  there  were  any  Christians  in  the  city. 
"  Christians ! "  was  the  reply ;  "  why,  we  are  all  Chris- 
tians." On  the  one  side  they  were  pointed  to  a  splen- 
did church,  surmounted  by  the  once  despised  Cross, 
and  on  the  other  to  schools  founded  to  teach  the  doc- 
trines of  Jesns.  What  gladness  filled  their  hearts  as 
tliey  learned  the  mighty  renovation  which  had  swept 
over  the  world,  and  heard  that  the  faith  had  penetrated 
even  into  CoBsar's  palace  ! 

But  soon  they  learned  the  reality.  It  seemed  to 
them  that  with  the  apparent  triumph  of  the  cause  the 
spirit  of  the  faith  had  departed.  The  self-denial  and 
holiness  of  the  days  they  once  knew  were  gone,  and, 
sorrowing,  they  exclaimed :  "  You  have  shown  us  many 
edifices  apparently  devoted  to  the  Christian  faith,  and 
countless  multitudes  who  have  assumed  that  name; 
but  where,  oh  where,  are  the  Christians  ?  " 


CONCLUSION.  173 


And  so  they  returned  in  sadness  to  their  cave,  and 
lie  who  "  giveth  Ilis  beloved  sleep  "  wrapped  them . 
once  more  in  unconsciousness ;  but  it  was  that  dream- 
less slumber  not  to  be  broken  until  their  Master  should 
come  again.  They  went  to  rejoin  again  the  confessors 
and  martyrs  of  their  own  age,  with  whom  alone  they 
could  sympathize  in  thought  and  feeling. 

In  this  way  it  is  that  the  legend  brings  before  us 
the  plain  and  undeniable  contrast  between  the  Church 
in  the  martyr  days  of  Diocletian,  and  its  successor 
under  the  courtly  favor  of  Theodosius.  And  so,  in 
this  volume,  we  would  show  the  wide  difference  be- 
tween the  Church  of  the  third  century  and  that  of  the 
nineteenth.  We  would  have  our  readers  see  how 
much  nobler  was  the  life  of  those  early  days,  which 
was  symbolized  by  the  Cross,  as  those  who  bore  the 
Christian  name  were  obliged  to  tread  their  path  over 
the  thorn  and  brier,  with  bleeding  feet  and  aching 
•heart,  till  life  became  one  long  sacrifice  to  Christian 
duty.  And  if,  now,  all  this  is  changed,  and  the  world 
smiles  around  us,  so  that  the  Christian  life  has  ceased 
outwardly  to  be  a  warfare  and  a  conflict,  but  goes  peace- 
fully on,  surrounded  by  all  spiritual  blessings,  until  it 
merges  quietly  in  the  grave,  we  may  well  ask  the  ques- 
tion, whether  we  have  not  lost  some  of  the  most  ele- 
vated traits  of  Christian  discipline. 

We  would  have  those,  then,  who  have  accompanied 
us  through  these  pages,  to  realize  that  there  is  a  tie 
which  binds  them  to  those  early  days  which  even  the 
intervening  ages  have  not  broken.  Then  the  dead  in 
Christ  will  cheer  them  on  their  way,  sweet  voices  speak 
to  them  from  within  the  veil,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Up- 


174  THE  CEURCU  OF  TUE  APOSTLES. 

per  Sanctuary  be  breathed  into  their  hearts.  Thus  thej 
will  be  prepared  for  this  holy  fellowship,  and  when 
earth  to  them  is  no  more,  they  will  find  themselves 
with  the  friends  who  had  passed  away  before,  once 
more  around  them  ;  the  pledges  of  their  Lord  fulfilled 
to  the  utmost,  and  every  want  of  their  immortal  being 
satisfied  ;  for  then  they  will  be  members  of  the  Church 
in  Heaven. 

And  how  glorious  will  be  the  change  from  the  nn- 
certainty  of  this  world  to  that  bliss  which,  w^ien  once 
it  is  gained,  can  be  lost  no  more  forever !  What  rapt- 
ure to  the  spirit,  when  the  shore  is  reached,  and  it  feels 
that  temptation  and  trial  forever  are  passed,  and  the 
long  ages  which  stretch  before  it  are  to  be  marked  only 
by  a  bliss  which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  to  imagine  ! — 

*'  With  what  a  bounding  thrill 
He'll  feel  the  airs  that  never  chill, 

The  strength  that  knows  not  years  I 
No  cloud  in  all  the  Heaven's  sweet  blue ; 
No  more  of  doubt,  where  all  is  true ; 
Nor  death  to  close  the  longing  view ; 

No  dream  of  future  tears ! 

"  The  way  is  passed,  and  he  can  stand, 
As  if  on  Jordan's  farther  strand ; 
As  if,  the  palm-branch  in  his  hand, 

The  chaplet  on  his  brow, 
A  wanderer  resting  at  his  home, 
A  pilgrim  at  the  holy  dome, 
To  Zion's  mountain  he  has  come — 

Eternity  is  now  I " 

*  The  late  Bishop  (Burgess)  of  Maine. 

THE   END. 


WORKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


I. 

THE  LENTEN  Yh&T.— Eleventh  Edition. 

II. 
TUE  DOUBLE  WITNESS  OF  THE  CILUJICIL.— Twenty-first  Edition. 

IIL 
THE  CHEISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  HOME.— Fourth  Edition. 

IV. 
EAULY  JESUIT  MISSIONS  IN  NOETH  AMEUICA,— Fourth  EdUion. 

V. 
THE  CATACOMBS  OF  UOUE.—Sevenih  EdUioH. 

VL 

EAELY  CONFLICTS  OF  CHRISTIASITY.— Third  Editioti. 

YII. 

NEW  YORK  IN  THE  OLDEN*  TIME. 
(Only  850  copies,  printed  by  G.  P.  Putnam  &.  Co.) 

VIIL 
THE  UNNOTICED  THINGS  OF  SCRIPTCUE.— Second  Edition. 

IX. 
HISTOEICAL  SCENES  IN  THE  OLD  JESUIT  MISSIONS. 


PRIMARY  TRUTHS  OF  RELIGION. 

By  Right  Rev.  THOMAS  M.  CLARK,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

BISQOP  or  BHOOE  ISIASD. 

1  vol.,  12mo.    Price,  $1.00. 

From  tho  AUgenuine  LiterariscJu  Zeitung,  Berlin: 

"  We  find  in  this  book  of  the  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island  a  cootribation  to 
Christian  apolojfetics  of  creat  interest  and  value.  The  book  discusses,  in  five 
parts,  the  problems  of  Theism,  the  flmdamental  principles  of  morals,  rtivcla> 
lion,  inspiration,  and  Christianity.  The  great  questions  pertaining  to  these 
several  neads  Bishop  Clark  has  most  satisfoctorily  solved  with  s  genuine 
philosophical  spirit,  and  on  the  basis  of  comprehensive  studies.  The  work 
gives  evidence  throughout  of  the  author's  familiarity  with  the  fundamental 
problems  of  the  philosophy  of  reli^on.  The  Bishop  is,  without  doubt,  an 
eloquent  and  original  thinker;  ana  his  work,  which,  in  its  logical  deveiop- 
nient,  is  acute,  and  clear,  and  precise,  will  enchain  the  interest  of  the  readers 
for  whom  it  has  been  written.  As  a  short  but  exhaustive  book  for  doubters, 
we  greet  this  production  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  Um 
American  Episcopate,  and  wish  for  it  an  abiding  suocess.*^ 

From  the  Ndw  Tork  Erprest : 

^'The  author  of  this  valuable  little  work  is  a  distinguished  Bishop  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  has  conferred  a  benent  on  his  oo-rellgionists 
and  on  earnest  Christians  generally,  by  the  production  of  this  estimable  hand- 
book  of  Orthodoxy.  Avoiding  dogmatic  theology,  he  cleariv  and  with  great 
eloquence  presents  the  scriptural  and  historical  evidences  in  nror  of  revealed 
roUgion,  meeting  the.  cavils  of  objectors  with  calm  and  weD-dlgeated  argu- 
ments that  will  claim  attention  fh)m  even  the  most  confirmed  skeptics.  The 
chapters  on  the  evidences  of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  are  especially 
worthy  of  commendation.  Indeed,  the  whole  work  will  prove  an  acceptable 
addition  to  the  controversial  religions  literaturo  of  the  day.^' 

From  the  Providence  Journal: 

"We  are  late,  quite  beyond  our  intention,  in  calling  attention  to  a  volume 
of  about  three  hundred  pages,  recently  issued  by  tho  Applelona,  and  written 
by  Bishop  Clark.  It  may  seem  supei^uous  to  do  more  than  announce  the 
8i>poarance  of  a  work  from  an  author  so  well  known  among  us ;  but  it  Ls  a 
lM>ok  of  too  great  importance  and  value  to  be  left  to  such  chances  of  circula- 
tion and  reading  as  come  shnply  from  the  weight  of  tho  Bishop's  name.  It 
deserves  to  be  read,  and  that  very  widely,  and  among  all  classes  of  intelligonl 
people,  not  because  he  wrote  it,  out  because  it  puts  into  a  portable,  coini)act, 
clear,  and  convincing  shape  the  great  truths  on  which  our  Christian  faith  rests. 
We  hardly  know  a  more  useful  service  to  which  Bishop  Clark  could  have  put 
his  hand.  It  is  one  for  which  he  has  peculiar,  and,  we  may  sav,  unusual  quali- 
llcations.  Few  men,  certainly  few  ecclesiastics,  could  deal  with  religfious  skep- 
ticism BO  boldly  and  yet  so  fairly,  with  a  vigorous  faith  in  great  principles, 
and  yet  with  a  liberal  spirit  and  breadth  of  -view.  Few  men  in  his  position 
could  be  so  little  trammelled  by  the  timidities  and  conformities  which  might 
prevent  a  free  and  fonrloss  grapplo  with  the  questions  now  in  debate  between 
Christianity  and  unbcliet" 

From  the  English  Oiurchman  and  ClericalJottmal,  London: 
"  Bishop  Clark  has  published  this  pithy  treatise  to  meet  the  unsettled  state 
of  mind  of  his  own  countrj'men  in  relation  to  the  'ftmdamental  principles  of 
faith  and  morals.'  The  language  is  admirably  lucid  and  clear,  and  tho  mean- 
ing of  the  writer  Is  never  buried  under  profound  and  technical  phraseology, 
too  often  used  in  such  works.  Clorgjnnon  will  And  it  excellenUy  fltt«d  foi 
leaching  to  thoughtful  working-men  in  their  parishes." 


¥»w  YoBK :  D.  APPLETON  &  CC  Pubusukm.  5i9  &  551  Bkoadwat. 


PRIMARY  TRUTHS  OF  RELIGION. 


From  the  Chv/rch  Opinion^  London : 

"  Bishop  Chirk's  work  is  invaluable,  as  it  is  not  written  in  a  style  above  the 
napabilities  of  the  general  public,  but,  in  words  easy  to  be  understood,  reAitei 
the  doctrines  of  Positivism." 

From  the  Kew  Englander: 

" '  Primary  Truths  of  Religion,'  by  Bishop  Clark,  of  Rhode  Island,  is  full 
of  seed-thoughts,  which,  Uke  all  good!  seed,  are  themselves  the  finiit  of  a  ripe 
growth  of  earnest  reflection.     In  very  simple  statements,  and  with  little 

f)arade  of  reasoning,  the  author  has  given  the  results  of  much  careful  think- 
»g  in  respect  to  the  great  truths  which  are  fundamental  to  the  Christian 
faith.  He  has  not,  like  too  many  bishops,  contented  himself  Avith  repro- 
ducing the  received  doctrines  of  the  faith  in  oft-repeated  platitudes,  but  has 
used  the  English  of  cultivated  men  to  express  certain  definite  opinions  of  hia 
own.  In  short,  ho  has  produced  a  very  readable,  thoughtful,  and  useful  vol- 
lune,  on  the  most  important  subjects,  which  is  none  the  less  useful  because 
it  is  condensed  and  brief." 

From  Old  and  New: 

"We  have  long  been  impressed  ^vith  the  idea  that  the  primary  tniths 
of  morals  and  religion  should  bo  taught  far  more  frequently  in  our  higher 
schools  of  learning,  and  not  be  left  for  theological  seminaries.  Bishop  Clark's 
book  would  be  an  admirable  manual  for  such  instruction.  Its  style  is  simple 
and  clear;  Its  historical  statements  are  accurate;  its  spirit  is  of  the  broadest 
Christian  charity ;  its  tone  toward  all  opponents  Is  one  of  the  utmost  Ubei^ 
ality  and  fairness.  For  such  a  purpose  as  that,  no  less  than  for  general  read- 
ing, we  heartily  commend  it." 

From  a  review  in  the  Literary  World,  London : 

"We  welcome  this  book  from  the  pen  of  an  American  Bishop.  Dr.  Clark 
has  done  well  in  this  volume  on  'The  Primary  Truths  of  Religion.'  With 
clearness,  conciseness,  logical  force,  breadth  of  tone,  wise  discrimination,  con- 
vincing statement,  he  deals  with  fundamental  facts.  Indeed,  the  whole  work 
Is  one  which  may  be  put  into  the  hand  of  any  thoughtful,  sincere  unbeliever 
in  the  great  truths  with  which  it  deals.  Its  candor  will  awaken  admiration, 
and  its  reasoning  lead  to  dith." 

From  the  Bsoton  Transcript: 

"This  clear  and  candid  treatise  is  not  dogmatic,  but  entirely  true  to  its 
title.  The  writer,  in  a  plain  and  lucid  style,  addresses  himself  to  the  unsettled 
condition  of  mind  which  prevails  so  extensively  in  regard  to  the  doctrines 
that  underlie  all  our  '  Systems  of  Divinity.'  Ills  answers  to  fundamental 
questions  are  given  In  a  cathoUc  spirit  that  recognizes  the  fact  that  doubt  is 
not  sinful  in  itself,  and  there  Is  no  little  skepticism  which  is  to  be  treated 
with  sympathetic  and  rational  consideration." 

From  The  LM,ng  Clmrch  : 

"The  book  of  the  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island  Is  tmiely.  It  is  of  a  kind  whicl 
the  church  needs.  It  Is  fair,  honest,  and  open.  It  does  not  sneer  at  what  Ifc 
does  not  understand.  It  addresses  Itself  In  simple  and  honest  terms  to  hon- 
est and  thoughtful  men.  It  Is  calm  and  judicial.  It  states  opposing  views 
with  great  fairness ;  it  takes  up  a  positlor  which  must  command  respect,  and 
It  states  it  in  terms  which  are  moderate,  and  show  appreciation  of  the  forf« 
ef  opposing  views." 


«KW  Tobk:  D.  APPLETON  &  CO..  Publishers.  549  &  551  Bboaj>wat 


The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem. 


Capt.  WILSON,  R.  E.,  and  Capt.  WARREN,  R.  E., 

Etc.,  Etc. 

1  vol.,  Svo.    Cloth.    With  Maps  and  Illustrations. 
Frioe,  ^3.50. 

"  This  is  a  narrative  of  exploration  and  discovery  in  the  City  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Holy  Land.  It  is  a  volume  of  unusual  interest  to  the  stu- 
dent of  antiquities,  and  throws  much  light  upon  what  was  already  partially 
known  about  the  Holy  City,  and  opens  up  many  curious  speculations  and 
suggestions  about  things  that  were  entirely  unknown  until  the  excavations 
and  explorations  commenced  which  the  book  faithfully  records.  The 
maps  and  illustrations  much  enhance  the  interest,  and  aid  in  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  things  described.  It  is  a  volume  of  over  400  pages, 
8vo.,  bound  in  cloth,  and  altogether  beautifully  presented." — Spritujjidd 
Republican. 


Christ  in  Modern  Life. 

SERMONS  PREACHED   AT  ST.  JAMES'S    CUAPEL. 

By  Rev.  STOPFORD  A.  BROOKE. 

1  vol.,  12mo,     Cloth Price,  $2.00. 

The  main  thought  which  underlies  this  volume  is,  that  the  ideas 
which  Christ  made  manifest  on  earth  are  capable  of  endless  expansion,  to 
suit  the  wants  of  men  in  every  age  ;  and  that  they  do  expand,  developing 
into  new  forms  of  larger  import  and  wider  application,  in  a  direct  pro- 
portion to  that  progress  of  mankind,  of  which  they  are  both  root  and 
sap.  If  we  look  long  and  earnestly  enough,  we  shall  find  in  them  the  ex- 
planation and  solution  not  only  of  our  religious,  but  even  of  our  politi- 
cal and  social  problems.  All  that  is  herein  said  is  rested  upon  the  truth 
that  in  Christ  was  Life,  and  that  this  Life,  in  the  thoughts  and  acts  which 
flowed  from  it,  was,  and  is,  and  always  will  be,  the  light  of  the  race 
of  man. 

D.  APPLETON  &  00,  Publishers,  New  York 


Musings  over  the  ''  Christian  Year" 


AND 


''Lyra  Innocentium/' 

By  CHARLOTTE   MARY  YONGE. 

Together  with  a  Few  Gleanings  of  Recollections  of  the  Rev.  John 
Keblo,  gathered  by  Several  Friends. 

One  snmil  thick  i2mo.     Printed  on  tinted  paper.     Price,  $2.00. 


"  The  '  Christian  Year,'  by  Rev.  John  Keble,  has  found  a  place  in  the 
hearts  of  pious  Churchmen,  second  only  to  that  of  the  *  Pilgrim's  Progress ' 
among  Christians  generally.  It  consists  of  poems  on  all  the  church-days 
of  the  year,  in  which  the  deepest  thoughts  of  a  saint,  a  poet,  a  scholar, 
and  a  pastor,  when  stirred  with  the  strongest  feelings  both  of  Christian 
and  of  man,  find  expression ;  and  these  '  Musings '  of  Miss  Yonge  will 
interest  every  admirer  of  that  famous  work.  In  a  series  of  annotations 
on  these  poems.  Miss  Yonge  has  sought  to  seize  and  express  the  subtle 
meaning  of  the  poet,  and  explain  a  few  difficulties  in  their  arrangement 
and  allusions.  Nearly  one-third  of  the  book  is  occupied  with  recollections 
of  Rev.  John  Keble,  in  which  is  presented  with  singular  distinctness 
the  life  of  one  of  the  saintlicst  men  of  modem  times.  The  style  of  Miss 
Yonge  is  one  of  charming  purity  and  simphcity,  and  the  entire  volume 
as  a  book  of  devotion  will  be  read  with  profit  by  all  Christians." — Church 
Journal. 

"  All  the  principal  religious  festivals  of  the  year  are  appropriately  al- 
luded to  in  this  volume,  with  suitable  reflections  thereon.  The  book  par- 
takes more  of  a  series  of  sermons  than  any  thing  else,  although  prayers 
are  occasionally  introduced.  All  whose  religious  views  coincide  with 
those  expressed  in  the  work  will  find  it  interesting  and  instructive." — 
Rochenter  Democrat. 

D.   APPLETON   &   CO., 

549  &  551  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 


A  thoughtful  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  best  religious  literature 
of  the  day. 


RELIGION  AND  SCIENCE. 


A  Scries  of  Sunday  Lectures  on  the  Relation  of  Natural  and  Revealed 
Religion,  or  the  Truths  revealed  in  Nature  and  Scripture. 

By  JOSEPH    LE    CONTE, 

PSOFKSSOB  or  GKOLOOT   AMD  NATUKAL   HISTOBT  VS  THE  UNIVKB8ITT  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

l2mo,  cloth.     Price,  $150. 

OPINIONS    OF   THE  rBBSS. 

"  This  work  is  chiefly  remarkable  as  a  conscientious  cflbrt  to  reconcile 
the  revelations  of  Science  with  those  of  Scripture,  and  will  be  very  use- 
ful to  teachers  of  the  different  Sunday-schools." — Detroit  Union. 

•*It  will  be  seen,  by  this  rhumi  of  the  topics,  that  Prof.  Le  Conte 
grapples  with  some  of  the  gravest  questions  which  agitate  the  thinking 
world.  He  treats  of  them  all  with  dignity  and  fairness,  and  in  a  man- 
ner so  clear,  persuasive,  and  eloquent,  as  to  engage  the  undivided  «t- 
tention  of  the  reader.  We  commend  the  book  cordially  to  the  regard 
of  all  who  are  interested  in  whatever  pertains  to  the  discussion  of  these 
grave  questions,  and  especially  to  those  who  desire  to  examine  closely 
the  strong  foundations  on  which  the  Christian  faith  is  reared." — Boston 
Journal. 

"A  reverent  student  of  Nature  and  religion  is  the  best-qualified  man 
to  instruct  others  in  their  harmony.  The  author  at  first  mtended  his 
work  for  a  Bible-class,  but,  as  it  grew  under  his  hands,  it  seemed  well  to 
give  it  form  in  a  neat  volume.  The  lectures  are  from  a  decidedly  re- 
ligious standpoint,  and  as  such  present  a  new  method  of  treatment." 
— Philadelphia  Age. 

"This  volume  is  made  up  of  lectures  delivered  to  his  pupils,  and  is 
written  with  much  clearness   of  thought   and  unusual  clearness  of  ex- 

fression,  although  the  author's  English  is  not  always  above  reproach, 
t  is  partly  a  treatise  on  natural  theology  and  partly  a  defense  of  the 
Bible  against  the  assaults  of  modern  science.  In  the  latter  aspect  the 
author's  method  is  an  eminently  wise  one.  He  accepts  whatever  sci- 
ence has  proved,  and  he  also  accepts  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible. 
Where  the  two  seem  to  conflict  he  prefers  to  await  the  reconciliation, 
which  is  inevitable  if  both  are  true,  rather  than  to  waste  time  and  words 
in  inventing  ingenious  and  doubtful  theories  to  force  them  into  seeming 
accord.  Both  as  a  theologian  and  a  man  of  science.  Prof.  Le  Conte's 
opinions  are  entitled  to  respectful  attention,  and  there  are  few  who  will 
not  recognize  his  book  as  a  thoughtful  and  valuable  contribution  to  the 
best  religious  literature  of  the  day." — N^ew  York  World. 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers,  549  &  551  Broadway,  N.  Y. 


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